A Year with Ray Bradbury

I spent most of yesterday and today rereading Ray Bradbury trying to figure out some way to pay homage to the man who had such an effect on me, my world view, and my writing.

Stepping on a Landmine

Growing up, I felt like I was crazy.  I scribbled stories, drew rudimentary comics, and spent hours playing with my imaginary friends.  I was unlike any kid I knew.

Thank God for my sister, who gave me a AD&D book when I was 7 or 8.  I found my first funnel for my imagination.  It saved me from a lot of mental anguish.  I read, Poe, Twain, and then I found Anne McCaffrey and Ray Bradbury.

These were the first books I ever read on my own, without someone telling me I had to.  I still felt alone, though.

Even after I join me high school's writing club, I didn't find any kindred spirits.  I felt like I had an illness or a disease.  I had to write (still do).  If I don't, my life quickly becomes unbearable.

Imagine my delight when I read Ray Bradbury's Zen and the Art of Writing for the first time, and saw him saying the same thing.  I wasn't alone.  Here was another person who felt the burden to write, not just the drive or interest.

"I have learned, on my journeys, that if I let a day go by without writing, I grow uneasy.  Two days and I am in tremor.  Three and I suspect lunacy.  Four and I might as well be a hog, suffering the flux in a wallow.  An hour's writing is tonic.  I'm on my feet, running in circles, and yelling for a clean pair of spats (Zen and the Art of Writing)."

Wow, I am not alone.  He goes on to compare himself to a landmine that he jumps out of bed and steps on it, then spend the day putting the pieces back together after the explosion.  He invites us to jump, and I am going to.

It is time to step on a landmine.

Practicing Zen and the Art of Writing

I have decided to spend a year with Ray Bradbury, writing every day with the goal of finishing a short story a week.  I am going to use the principles and exercises in the book to perfect my craft, and hopefully pay homage to Ray Bradbury in the process.

I will chronicle my process here with the tag Zen and the Art of Writing, and I will post the stories that come out of the process.

I invite you to join me in the journey.  I will start Monday, June 11th to make my first short.  I will spend the weekend rereading Zen and the Art of Writing, maybe get a couple lists ready.

Are you in?  Writing for no less than 1 hour a day with the goal of finishing 1 short story a week.