the only good fight there is

roll the dice

if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
otherwise, don’t even start.if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
this could mean losing girlfriends,
wives, relatives, jobs and
maybe your mind.go all the way.
it could mean not eating for 3 or 4 days.
it could mean freezing on a
park bench.
it could mean jail,
it could mean derision,
mockery,
isolation.
isolation is the gift,
all the others are a test of your
endurance, of
how much you really want to
do it.
and you’ll do it
despite rejection and the worst odds
and it will be better than
anything else
you can imagine.if you’re going to try,
go all the way.
there is no other feeling like
that.
you will be alone with the gods
and the nights will flame with
fire.do it, do it, do it.
do it.all the way
all the way.you will ride life straight to
perfect laughter, its
the only good fight
there is.

charles bukowski

don't be dull and boring

so you want to be a writer?
if it doesn't come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don't do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don't do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don't do it.
if you're doing it for money or
fame,
don't do it.
if you're doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don't do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don't do it.
if it's hard work just thinking about doing it,
don't do it.
if you're trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.
if you have to wait for it to roar out of you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.

if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you're not ready.don't be like so many writers,
don't be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don't be dull and boring and
pretentious, don't be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don't add to that.
don't do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don't do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don't do it.
when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.

there is no other way.

and there never was.

no seas aburrido

así que quieres ser escritor?
si a pesar de todo
no sale de ti como una explosión
no lo hagas
al menos que salga, sin reclamarlo,
de tu corazón, tu mente, tu boca
y tus vísceras
no lo hagas
si tienes que sentarte horas
mirando fijamente el monitor
o encorvado sobre
tu máquina de escribir
buscando palabras
no lo hagas
si es por dinero
o por fama
no lo hagas
si es porque deseas
mujeres en tu cama
no lo hagas
si tienes que sentarte
y editarlo una y otra vez
no lo hagas
si pretendes escribir como alguien
olvídalosi tienes que esperar que salga como
un rugido
entonces espera pacientemente
si nunca sale de ti como un rugido
dedícate a otra cosa
si primero se lo lees a tu esposa
a tu novia o novio
a tus padres o a quién sea
no estás listo

no seas como tantos escritores
no seas como miles de personas
que se dicen escritores
no seas aburrido, fastidioso y engreído
que no te consuma el amor propio
las librerías del mundo
duermen en sus bostezos
por tipos como tú
no te incluyas allí
a no ser que salga de ti
como un cohete
a no ser que tu letargo
te arrastre a la locura
al suicidio o al asesinato
no lo hagas
a no ser que el sol que llevas dentro
te queme las entrañas
no lo hagas

cuando llegue el momento de verdad
y seas elegido
eso aparecerá por sí mismo
y así continuará
hasta que mueras o fenezca dentro de ti

no hay otro camino
nunca lo habido.