Hi Ho Silver! Write Away!!

YOU’RE NOT THE LONE RANGER

If you’re not old enough, this will make no sense to you at all. I was told once the true mark of one’s culture is if you can listen to The William Tell Overture without thinking of the Lone Ranger.  Now, some of you youngsters will maybe ask, “Who is that masked man?”  Oh, wait, that’s what they said at the end of the show, but I digress.  The point is when he and Tonto rode out of town, The Lone Ranger always fixed the wrong, punished the bad guys, made everyone see life in a more pleasant manner and left a Silver Bullet behind.  It seemed to me when I watched the weekly episodes that everyone was waiting for him and Tonto to ride into town, fix everything and leave them a silver bullet.  That silver bullet has taken on a life of its own in our modern world.  It’s the fix-all, do-all, kiss it and make it better thing that we are constantly searching for.

Which brings me to the point of this week’s blog.  You knew I’d ultimately get there, didn’t you?

For us, as writer’s there is no silver bullet.  If there is, I and most of the writer’s I know, haven’t found it.  There are many varieties of what we think are silver bullets.  “If I can only finish this book/shorts story/poem/article I know it will open all the doors I need to write full time.”  “If I can get an agent, I know I will be on the NYT Best Seller’s list.”  “If my publisher would believe in me enough to invest in a publicity tour, I know I’d sell a million books.”  If you’ve ever been to a writer’s conference you have probably heard these and more as writer’s search for their personal silver bullet.

If I remember correctly, (I looked it up so I know I’m right) the Lone Ranger found a silver mine someplace out west where he and Tonto mined silver so they could buy food, feed their horses, buy the make-up the Lone Ranger occasionally needed to fool the bad guys and have a little pocket change for an occasional night on the town. And……Get ready…here it comes…the point of this blog…. HE MADE HIS OWN SILVER BULLETS.

None of us probably has a silver mine in the back yard or on some property we own in Mule Toot, Arizona but we have our very own silver mine nonetheless.  We do the digging every day when we sit down to type/write/compose/whatever we call it.  Finish the book, short story or whatever project you are working on.  Make it so good that someone else finds it interesting enough to buy/publish/or represent you.  Even if you get that one silver bullet, you can’t relax.  Many well-known writers have had series dropped by publishers and had to start again.  We get letters from agents who are leaving the business, paring down their client list or think what we write is not popular anymore and we are suddenly working without a net.  It happens.  To us all.  It will happen to you if you write long enough. 

The solution? Go back to your own Mule Toot, dig around in the mine and find some more silver to make another bullet.  Make several.  Remember, the Lone Ranger gave out bullets all over the old west.

Feel Free to comment, complain or make a statement!