by Janet Wellington

I recently attended a three-hour presentation given by Ray Bradbury called "The Art of Writing." Bradbury, with published works numbering over six hundred (Fahrenheit 451, Dandelion Wine, The Martian Chronicles), is also the author of, ZEN IN THE ART OF WRITING, a favorite inspirational writing book of mine. He had a lot to say, that evening, about the glorious madness of writing.

According to Bradbury, writing is a "collision of metaphors in your head." In this case, don’t think of metaphors in the literal sense (i.e., food for thought; the application of a word or phrase to something that it does not apply to literally). Instead, think of metaphors as symbols and images that you collect throughout your lifetime.

If you gather all these metaphors, and then add your own history plus experiences from your own personal life -- then, Bradbury says, you can write.

"Your job as a writer is to deep-dive within yourself and bring out all the good stuff. If you’re looking at the marketplace, you’re looking in the wrong place."

The point? If you concentrate on identifying these metaphors, and really spend the time to know yourself -- everything you’ve ever been will come out in your writing and someone (read here: editor, agent, teacher) will eventually recognize this. "Write every single day," he says, "and write passionately about the things you love – not what other people love."

I think this is a valuable reminder of the importance of being truly passionate about our work. My interpretation? If you feel you must write Regencies or Medievals or Time Travels or whatever the "market" might say to avoid – do it! If you must break the rules a little – do it! Your passion and your life’s metaphors will become material for your books and, Bradbury says, "That’s what makes the center of your work special."

Put another way in ZEN AND THE ART OF WRITING, "If you are writing without zest, without gusto, without love, without fun, you are only half a writer."

Bradbury also talked about the frustrations of writing and gave the audience some specific advice. "If you have people in your life who don’t believe in what you are doing, fire them right away!" He also explained how talking about your ideas to others drains away the energy. Resist this, he says, and only talk about the writing process and keep your ideas to yourself.

Your best defense? Bradbury instructs: "Collect people around you who believe in your writing. And emulate your heroes, but don’t envy them." He also confided that at first, he imitated other writers until he finally began writing from within – when he finally discovered his creative self.

About creativity, Bradbury advised to not pay "too much attention" to what we are doing. "Nothing can make you more creative than you," he explains. "When you’re working on a novel, just keep writing. Stop remembering what you’ve done. If you’re too aware of what you’re doing, the creativity stops."

Here are additional tips for writers from Bradbury:

Make lists. Make lists of things you are afraid of and then destroy it. Make lists of people you love and celebrate it! In ZEN AND THE ART OF WRITING, he explained how he made long lists of titles and nouns. This was his way of tapping into his subconscious, finding the metaphors of his childhood that became the subjects of many of his short stories. He would run through the lists, pick a noun, and then write a long prose-poem-essay on it. Somewhere in the writing, a story would form. A character would appear who would finish the tale for him.

Get books on the senses. Teach your eyes to really see, remember how to smell, how to really use your senses. "These books will help your remembrances," he says. They will help you tap into those childhood metaphors.

Never watch local television news. Bradbury was adamant about this. "It’s a bombardment of negativity," he says, "and the affluence of despair."

Watch all the old good movies. Rent them. Buy them. Watch them with your friends. They’re filled with metaphors, he explains. Find them and learn from them.

Be careful of critique groups. "Find people of convivial spirit," he says, "and be careful they don’t compete with you." Bradbury has always been part of writers’ groups, though he recommends a mixed group. He says the best group will consist of different kinds of writers. His group contained mystery writers, poets, humor writers, and various fiction writers.

Read your literary heroes. Keep reading and re-reading their works.

Write every single day. Bradbury has been writing every day since the age of twelve.

Witness and celebrate. Bradbury says that’s why we’re here. We need to take time to celebrate our lives. "We’re so busy living," he says, "we forget we’re alive!"

At the end of the lecture, Bradbury took questions from the audience and fans of all ages approached the microphone. A young man asked how Bradbury picked his themes. His answer? "Don’t worry about themes – write adventurous stuff!" Another youngster asked, "How do you start a book?" He smiled and answered, "It starts itself." When he was asked if he spends a lot of time revising and editing, Bradbury answered, "It’s pretty well done, especially if it’s about your true self."

And that’s Bradbury’s secret. If you are writing about your true self, the characters will speak for themselves and they will write the story.