25 - Writing

Shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone that one of my loves is writing; because, well, I’m a writer.

I’ve been writing for 18 years now - more than half my life. Short stories, poems, lyrics, erotica, scripts, articles - doesn’t matter, I love it all.

I’ve also decided that in 2021, I’ll finally do the one thing I haven’t yet done in my near two-decade history of writing: Complete a novel.

I’ve started many, only for them to fizzle out after the first or second chapter. Not this time. I’m confident in my story, I’m more disciplined as a writer, and we’re still not out of the woods yet re:pandemic, so I’ve got time to really hone in on this thing.

Novel aside, I just genuinely love writing for the sake of it. I made it a point to write every single day this month, to one, prove to myself that I could, and two, flex my creative muscles. The only way to really get good at something is to do it everyday, or as often as possible. Right now, I’ve got no excuses not to write.

Of course, one of the biggest draws of writing is the creative freedom, but I also love the autonomy in a more pragmatic sense.

I don’t need anyone’s help to write something. With photography, especially fashion photography, I’m at the mercy of my gear, my personal budget if I need to buy props or outfits, the natural light that day, and the model’s schedule, experience, and overall commitment to my vision. I don’t own a studio. I don’t have a crew. Everything I’ve ever created was thanks to the model, my camera, and my eye. Sometimes I had grander visions I just couldn’t execute because of those limitations.

But writing? I don’t need other people. I don’t need fancy equipment. I’m not relying on the benevolence of the weather or other factors outside of my control. I just open up my notepad, and away I go. If I want to write about aliens? I can write about aliens. I don’t need to look online for a convincing yet affordable alien costume for a model to wear. I don’t have to travel to a specific location to get the shot. I can create a fully fleshed out world, for free, by myself, as I lay in bed or on my couch. Nothing beats it.

Editing is a breeze, and only takes minutes, as opposed to editing pictures, which takes hours. Photography very much feels like a job at times, but writing never has. It comes naturally to me, whereas I had to teach myself photography. I consciously worked to improve my photography, whereas with writing, I naturally improved as I matured as a human being.

None of this is a knock on photography, and when the world reopens, I’ll be out there, camera in hand, ready to go - but no matter how good photography is when it’s at its best - it pales in comparison to the thrill I get from writing.

The pen is mightier than both the sword, and the mirrorless camera.

Dave CastleDecember 25, 2020