Leave it to Vonnegut

So I'm reading the NY Times Book Review today, and there is a review of a new biography of Vonnegut. In that review they quoted him: "The trick is to write as much as you know as quickly as possible."

BOOM!

Floored by Vonnegut. Again. He had a way of doing that to me: out of nowhere, the truth. Simple and clear.

Now why you may ask has that particular quote resonated so? Well . . . I've been remiss lately in the writing department . . . I have multiple projects that I'd like to work on . . . but it's that awful prospect of sitting down and doing the work . . . that's the killer. Once you get out of the flow it is one big bad bitch to get back in and there are a million and one reasons for not doing it . . . work/play/dog/movies/plays/it's-too-damn-pretty-outside . . . you name it. But eventually you shame yourself into getting back to it, overcoming the fear of failure (another quote by another favorite: Fail again. Fail better.) and away you go . . . but sometimes that kick in the gas can be a long time coming . . . when will we learn that every day frittered away is a day you don't get back?

At least with the solo work I have a reasonable expectation of getting it up in front of people with the One Man Talking Festival; and the Woodstock Fringe Festival has been very nice to me in the last couple of years, a consistent safe and loving artistic home (can anyone ask for more?). So that takes the 'no one is gonna ever see this anyway so why bother' out of the equation.

So what is stopping me?

Me.

Well . . . sometimes it takes a Vonnegut to slap you up side the head: the trick is to write as much as you know as quickly as possible.

And so it goes.