“Writers write,” my buddy Bob is fond of saying. And he is right about that writing thing that seems to be my rite.
I expounded all over the students at Centenary University of Hackettstown, NJ a few weeks back, about this writing thing, during a talk I gave there. The student who liaison the entire visit, Carlee Nigro, wrote this piece in the current issue of the school’s Cyclone Chronicle: https://www.thecyclonechronicle.com/features/nj-author-ralph-greco-jr-speaks-to-aspiring-writers. It was Carlee who reached out to get me to speak for her fellows, after reading my book: Writing Dirty Words: The Not-So-Sexy Reality of Making a Living Writing (and the Occasional Crack of a Whip): Greco, Ralph: 9781957863146: Amazon.com: Books
And don’t just give wonderful Carlee’s equally wonderfully article about wonderful me a read, the CC is filled with good stuff you’ll just love. As the ABOUT section of the Chronicle states, it is an entirely independent, student-run newspaper of Centenary University, Hackettstown, NJ. It had its genesis in the WRI2300-Experiential Writing class as a student newspaper project during the Fall 2023 semester. The mission of The Cyclone Chronicle is to report on news, events, and issues that are relevant to the University community, provide a forum for discussion among students, faculty and staff, and give students training and experience in the field of journalism. The Cyclone Chronicle understands and is committed to fulfilling its responsibility of abiding by Centenary University’s policies.
The last person on this planet I want to speak about is me. And the very last thing I want to discuss is my writing, you know, what the words mean, what I was after with this or that story, song or one-act. Artist’s prattling on about their ‘journey’ making what they make or their ‘process’ sickness me (see here). But I do like talking about writing, the nuts and bolts of it that I believe, in some universal sense, applies to all creative acts. And if I can make folks feel even a slight bit happier about executing their creative acts, maybe help them along a smidgen, no matter what their creative acts might be, is something I do like to speak to on/about/under and over.
As I said to Carlee’s class, and pretty much do make a point of every time I get the chance to make a point about it…I believe everyone is an artist. Anything we do, no matter if for an audience, or even if nobody else ever knows we do it, if that thing defines us, fuels and feeds our heart, is the thing we will do no matter how often we get to do it, it is our art and I know everybody has this thing. I hope you have found or will find your thing.
I believe Carlee and her classmates have found there’s.
