Writer’s Manifesto/Battlecry, Geoff Lawson

Writer’s Manifesto/Battlecry

What are we?  We are writers.  We are the historians of past yesterdays and future tomorrows.  We are the scribes of our generation, a generation today, maybe the last generation, maybe the next generation.  We may die but our words will live on.  We have/keep/maintain our connections to each other and to the past and in that vein we are the bridge to the future.  I live today.  Geoffrey Chaucer lived 500 years ago.  He s my best friend.  He is who I was named after.  Same as Willie.  You know, Shakespeare.  Mark Twain and Mary Shelly have been my inspiration and writing mates that spanned years.  Who are yours?  Are they the same as mine?  Are they different from mine?  But however you feel about them, you know one thing: they still live through us.  We aren’t warriors, we aren’t soldiers, archers, or artillery men.  Not in the vein that you know them as.  We don’t destroy, not intentionally anyway.  We create.  We give life, we give love, we give drama and on the written page we make it come alive.  Our words may/can/do more harm than good if used correctly or even incorrectly and they will last long after the gunshot or sword wound has taken the life of the innocent. 

     Epic is a word that describes what we put our minds to.  Immortal is a word that comes to mind when we are talked about. Think about it.  Geoffrey Chaucer, Homer, William Shakespeare.  How long have you known them?  You write their words and its as if they were sitting right next to you, guiding your hand. 

     I know, I realize as you may have, we aren’t warriors, we are only scribes, writers.  But we are epic.  We are heros and we will live on.  In the hearts, the souls, the minds, the bodies of those who knew us, did what we did and set off on their own written paths to glory while we looked on and choose our own. 

     It is satisfying putting pen to paper because we know we are writers.  We are not alone and will live forever.  Raise not your sword, your shield, your flag, or your cross.  Raise your pen and sally forth and be one with the ink. 

- Geoff Lawson, 11/10/12