“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.”
-Robert Frost
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"No fun in the writer, no fun in for the reader" would be my little addendum, if I dare to camp onto the Poet Laureate's words. Not that life is all fun and light and sweetness...but don't we crave moments of light and sweetness and fun and fulfillment? I think those kind of yearnings are there to remind us to fix our eyes on something bigger and better'n we ourselves are.
So, do I cry when I write? Nope. (Sometimes, reading what I've written--oh yeah!)
Am I surprised when I write? Oh, certainly. I adhere to one famous author's suggestion: Take strong characters, throw them into difficult circumstances, and see what they do! Then, throw them into more difficulties...add tension, stir, and repeat.
The critical ingredient in that recipe is STRONG characters. Or, characters who are becoming strong. Or, characters who used to be strong and we wonder--do they still have it? Are they gonna reach way down deep inside and do it, or will they choke? Stay tuned, because, as Scarlett reminds us, "Tomorrah is anothah day!"
..............
"I want to make you laugh.
I want to make you cry.
Even better, both at the same time."
(from Stephen King's lapidary opus, ON WRITING: For Love of the Craft.)
