There is a Place I Know

There is a place that I know
It's an old house full of stories I don't know
The smell fills my nose
the memories, my mind
I wander and hurry
the space full

There is a place that I know
past round-abouts
and long flying wings
through lines
and past screens
ticket lines and aeroplanes
In the snow I skitter
Half gone away

There is a place I know
tucked away like a silly joke
golden in glory of times gone by
people line shelves
blinking with eyes that are embossed
fading
looking on through letters
from linolium floors to ceiling tiled heights
now all gone away

There is a place I know
which no longer knows me
We are familiar ghosts
from Christmases past
each year fades us just a touch more
until our relationships glisten
just lights on the tree

There is a place I know
over the plains and beyond the tall mountains
those that are frosted with the Joten gleam
I know a place
which is quiet and close
my heart hurts to go
yet my mind always clears
Old wooden houses in all the worlds we know
they are quiet
no space for who we are now
only more tales which crackle and spin

- Ryan P. Freeman

Current Musings

So do I want to make writing what I do all the time?

Sure thing!

How? - that's the question I'm buzzing my brain about lately... I'm currently reading an excellent book on the writing career of Neil Gaiman... and one of the big things I've noticed so far is how he didn't just try to get published... with the whole traditional route and everything. What he did (as well as Stephen King, to an extent) was go to where people would publish him. And he would typically only write and pursue what he loved. What awesome advice. A lot of times, the beginning people who would publish him were softcore porn magazines - buying up his articles to fill those pages not full of pictures. Through this process, he made connections... like-minded friends who loved similar things. It wasn't about networking- it was about continuing to pursue what he loves - and I think that is the key to staying above the soul-less papermills...

Another thing I noticed was how Neil Gaiman didn't just write- he branched out into different mediums of story, too! Wherever the story was fresh and new - that's where he ended up... because he was following whatever he loved and he had an excellent BS detector. He invested in himself.

The last thing I've noticed so far, it's that he surrounded himself with friends who lived in a place where they could meet and get right to their art. They weren't necessarily at the whim and mercy of big publishers or had to yell into the hurricane of social media or e-publishing.


I know with the advent of e-publishing and the shifting of publishing power, the story landscape has and is changing... but it leaves me wondering what is possible now! And since I don't know what is possible, it means I can do anything I like - which is perfect.

-Ryan

For What It's Worth...

What Writing the End of Rienspel Was Like 

and How It Changed Me

 

After reading a delightful post from one of my favorite living authors, Christopher Paolini, I was inspired to write... so here we go! (you can read his article HERE)

What was writing the end of Rienspel like?

I actually got really serious about making headway with Rienspel at about the the 6th or 7th year out of the 8 total it took to finish writing it. I was in a terrible place then. I was out of work for the first time in my life and was quite literally living on others' mercy and the answers of bitter, desperate prayers. I would get up in the morning - finally - make some coffee (if we had any that week), pull out a laptop and write. It was my job - the only job I had.

As I've written, who I really write for are the heartbroken - the dispossessed - and down-and-out. Real people who I know - not some pie-in-the-sky feel good sentiment. Hard times at their best can melt and carve our arrogance, but I never imagined I'd be one of the people I write for. There, at the end of Rienspel, I was who I wrote for.

For awhile, I had known what the ending would generally be like for my first book (and no, I'm not giving the conclusion away, either! Rienspel will be out by no later than Fall 2016!!). But by having something meaningful to do - where I could see daily progress which I did by my own hand and will - helped make me a better person. I feel like just about every other job I've ever had quails in comparison to the strength unveiled and developed within myself from the final few delirious keystrokes of Rienspel.

I know... I realize... I understand I am, in the mad grand scheme of things, just one more random shmoe cranking out books... but one of the engines which hurtles me forward was forged during those last few summer months of 2014. I really do hope you enjoy Rienspel, for what it's worth, when it finally releases.

When you find out what you love to do - what you can do and ought to do... what you know you must do and can't help but do - do it. Do it with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind, and all your strength (even if you're weak). For when your heart is broken, perhaps it's because you've broken it over Principle; when your soul is sick, perhaps it is because you Hope; when your mind is fogged, perhaps it is because you Care; and when your strength is gone perhaps it is because you have have learned the power of weakness found in Humility.

Write on, fellow adventurers... write on...

-Ryan

Spirit.

Why do you write?

The general answers may vary, but I am convinced that people write specifically because they are animated by a guiding spirit. It's what fires their typing fingers and speeds their pens. Something deep within you keeps you burning the midnight oil to keep writing on long after the initial fervor burns out. It's something which is invisible, yet produces page after page of highly visible words- stories- tale: A Vision, meant to be shared with the world.

What you do, as a writer (go ahead, dare to call yourself one) is special. If you're still a bit timid about calling yourself a writer, then here- take a knee (internally or otherwise). I've taken up my sword letter opener from my desk! By the spirit within you, I dub you Writer of words. Rise a Writer, or not at all! Beware the naysayer and self-doubt- but be quick to safeguard others, by word and by deed. Write! and fear no darkness! For your words are Powerful - and even more so as you continue to hone your craft and art unto perfection.

Rise a Writer.
Rise a fellow Adventurer into the Realms yet unknown.
Writer so that others, too, shall take up the pen and the keyboard, and with their imagination, heart, and guiding spirit, inspire others to take heart in their own journeys.

May the pain of your next writer's block ever remind you of your oath.

Welcome, fellow Writer!