Tears in the Rain

Each of us has so much locked within: thoughts, ideas, memories, emotions. Every man and every woman is a world unto themselves. As writers we strive to express and maybe even immortalize our inmost selves while time remains. The final scene of Bladerunner poignantly expresses this feeling with the dying replicant’s monologue:
“I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.”
As a side note, this was largely improvised by the actor, Rutger Hauer, who died in 2019, the same year his character died.
We write not for ourselves alone, but for eternity. We communicate not only with readers today but, if all goes well, with countless readers in the future. In the same way, voices from the past still echo in the pages of ancient tomes. The Gilgamesh, a story written thousands of years ago, still has power to move me and even bring a tear to my eye. What is this but communication, maybe even telepathy, across the span of ages?
Is this a daunting task, writing for countless future generations? Of course it is, but whoever said writing was easy? Sometimes it’s easy, yes, but the dedicated wordsmith writes even when it’s grueling.
Professional writers WRITE, no matter what. Oh, but what if you write and it turns out to be trash? Well, good, you got the trash out of your system. Write a dozen stories. At least one will be good, because it’s nearly impossible to write a dozen crappy tales.
Do you suffer from Writer’s Block? So what, write anyway. If you want to be a professional writer, that is. Look at it this way. Let’s say your kitchen sink is plugged and so you call a plumber. Now what would you say if the plumber said, “Eh, I would fix it, but I’ve got Plumber’s Block today. Maybe in a week or so I’ll be inspired to unplug your sink.”
Writing is both a holy chore (as Harlan Ellison used to say) and a job. You’ve got customers, also known as readers, who expect you to do your damn job. And if you don’t do your job, they will read the books of somebody who does his or her job.
Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox now. This lecture was for me as much as anybody else. I am not immune to procrastination when it comes to writing. There are days, too many of them in fact, when I don’t achieve my writing goal. What can I do but push on?
Now for some other voices to chime in:
"The counterfeit innovator is wildly confident. The real one is scared to death." – Steven Pressfield, The War of Art.
"A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit." – Ray Bradbury
"If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write." – Martin Luther