As I sit down to write my first entry on the Write Site blog, I am flooded with contradictory thoughts and impulses. My first thought is to discuss a line from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet (1903-1908), where he tells the poet that he should only write if he cannot not write, that if you are able to resist the urge to write, you probably shouldn’t bother.
However, when I read some of the other posts by my colleagues, I started to have some reservations, since their posts have been so encouraging to the reluctant writer. I then thought of how the courses I teach for the Center are called “The Reluctant Writers Series,” and it just didn’t seem right to set such a high bar.
On the other hand, if you are reading this blog, or if you are taking (or thinking about taking) courses at the Center, then chances are that you might well fit into the category of not being able not to write. At the very least, there is most likely a low-level hum in your head that is nagging you to write, constantly demanding attention and time from your daily activities, and while that might not meet the letter of Rilke’s standard, it certainly meets mine.
In other words, if you are spending time resisting the urge to write, you might as well repurpose that time and spend it writing. It doesn’t take long to indulge your muse, but the more you indulge it, the more it will speak to you.
There is definitely something to Rilke’s statement, but at the same time, as an aspiring writer, you should think of it not as discouraging, but rather as validating, even inspiring.
So, if you have that urge, that little voice telling you to write, who are you to resist?
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