Ask Cartoon Girl | impetus to write

Dear Cartoon Girl,

What ever made you think you could write?

—Curious and a Little Rude

Dear Curious,

Reading Raymond Carver.

I know, I know, it's such a common answer I'm almost embarrassed.

I wish I could give Judith Guest's answer.  She says she picked up a book of poetry called Fruits and Vegetables by Erica Jong before anyone had heard of Erica Jong and read a poem about cooking an eggplant just after she'd spent the morning chopping eggplant for ratatouille. She says Erica Jong's poem gave her the epiphany that you can write about anything.

Isn't that answer swell?  I wonder if Judith Guest made it up.

Anyway, I had the same epiphany, minus the eggplant coincidence, reading Raymond Carver -- how  you can make literature out of even the smallest things, the most invisible people.  For me, writing is about paying attention to what others might not notice or think worthy. 

Love,
Cartoon Girl

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