Showing Up To The Work

I am very very afraid.

I have been writing since I was a little girl. I typed slowly on a small word processor in the basement at 345 Woodridge Road, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. I turned 27 this week and the phrase "Shit or get off the pot" plays in my head constantly. While I may have written since childhood, I still have not published any of my fiction. I better do something about this writing shtick and soon.

So, I started this blog. I have a close friend from the New School MFA program who has used a blog as a sort of kick in the pants over the past year. He writes to create discipline in an otherwise unorganized writing day. He writes to tell his stories or those of his friends. He writes because he can't think of any other way of doing it on a particular day. For that, I respect him.

Last Christmas, I bought a coffee table book about the famous literary community at Elaine's Italian restaurant in New York. In it, proprietor Elaine relates that many times a struggling author would come into her bar, order a glass of wine and complain about writer's block. When asked by one author how he might combat this she replied, "Just write".

Frederic Tuten, a teacher at New School and author of Van Gogh's Bad Cafe and The Green Hour held Roy Lichtenstein in high esteem not only because of his artistic talent, but also because he was a wonderful friend to Tuten. In a Saturday morning class, Tuten told us that Lichtenstein consistently remarked, "Show up for your work and your work will show up for you".

I am showing up for my work now. Pretty please show up for me.