Ashamed of Being A Writer?

Writers are scared of going out. They cook up all kinds of excuses to reject invitations.

Q: How are you doing? How’s work?
A: Bad. I haven’t written a sentence all week.

Q: Have you ever thought of getting a real job?

See. People who don’t write don’t understand, especially those we live with. That is why writers should take a break from anonymous Twitter and meet face to face with other writers in their city, to give the car some gas that will kick writers’ block to the curb.

How about cooking? After all, writing is about mixing ingredients, steaming, stir-fry, boiling and pushing something in the oven to come up with an attractive read.

Writers’ Cookouts

They should have writers’ block cooking marathons where they cook rice and beans, hard grits, roti, paella, lasagna, Scottish haggis, Chinese dumplings, roast chicken, quiche, Japanese ramen noodle soup anything, that will take their minds off the writers’ block.

Ordinary people are not sympathetic to writers’ block because writing:

·         does not feed the starving masses (we can barely feed ourselves)

·         it does not provide better public transport

·         it does not create jobs

·         it does not lower infant mortality

·         it does not provide a better harvest

But we still have a problem, an internal problem that we cannot write a thing for weeks. That is why we must revert to ourselves. How can we stop writers’ block in its tracks?  By coming together, chest to chest, mouth to mouth, cook something and re-energize ourselves.
Modus Operandi

·         identify fiction and non-fiction writers in your cities.

·         come together and organize get rid of writers’ block cookouts.

·         bring 5 copies of your book. Buy mine. I’ll buy yours. (Writers don’t buy each other’s books unfortunately).

·         logistics?  start small in someone’s kitchen or church kitchen.

·         alternatively, rent the kitchen of a small restaurant, especially Monday, when business is slow. They will benefit from word of mouth publicity.

Benefit:  Cooking with others will free your mind, suppress writers’ block and nudge open the sleeping beauty in your writing. It will also answer private questions. Should I be writing or get a day job?

Nonqaba waka Msimang

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