The Joy of Writing

I devote much of my day to writing. Whether it be work emails, editing my wife’s schoolwork (she’s getting her doctorate), working on my novels, or writing this blog, I spend about 8-10 hours a day playing around with words. By bedtime, I want to clear my head with anything but. Recently, I’ve been watching a lot of Bob Ross. Just about every one of his 403 “Joy of Painting” episodes is available on YouTube. One episode a night is more than a year of entertainment! Mr. Ross is a wholesome tool for relaxation. What better way to distance me from writing than watching someone paint?

Like countless others, I credit Bob Ross for getting me into art. The show ran from 1983 to 1994, encompassing my entire childhood. I’ve never worked with oils (his medium of choice). They are a bit labor intensive and downright expensive, but I enjoy painting landscapes, and much of Bob Ross’s composition and some of his techniques work just as well with acrylics (my medium of choice). His ease of completing a magical world in real-time within a half hour enthralled me as a kid, and it is no different today. But a few days ago, I realized Bob was teaching me more than just painting. Suddenly, his wisdom began to resonate with my writing too. These are some of the takeaways.

Just do it!
The central tenant of the “Joy of Painting” and the driving force behind much of Bob’s life was that anyone could create art. No one would say Bob Ross is a great painter. Don’t get me wrong, he had some chops, but his landscapes didn’t necessarily rock the art world. But Bob was an excellent motivator who boiled down oil painting to a few fundamental techniques that were accessible and easy to learn. Whenever I tell someone I write books, the first thing out of their mouth is, “I could never write a book.” Ugh. What a defeatist attitude. The first time I started writing a book, I didn’t think I could do it either, but I still tried and found a passion that changed my life! Learn from Bob. Anyone can paint, and anyone can write. Will you be any good at first? Probably not. But as Bob always said, it only takes a few techniques and a little practice, and you can create beautiful things.

Start small
Almost all of Bob’s paintings started with little crisscross strokes to get some color on the canvas. In other words, get something on the page to cover that damned white. Don’t worry about what it looks like in the beginning. No one sees that mess but you. As the painter or writer, only you know that a single sentence went through a thousand strokes before it came out just right. What your audience will see is the finished product. Find solace in that and create!

Work from the back to the front
This makes sense for painting landscapes, but it also works with writing. I often get my big ideas out first when I start a chapter. I may write several pages about the construction of a castle, describe the scenery, or dig deep into the history of the land. These are my mountains in the distance. I slowly narrow the focus and zoom in until I’m up close and personal with the characters’ dialogue. Essentially this means working in layers to create the illusion of depth. Don’t forget. Writing is as much of an illusion of reality as painting.

Happy accidents
Bob loved to say, “We don’t make mistakes. We just have happy accidents.” There is so much pressure in life to do things right. The fear of making mistakes causes many not to try at all. Early in my writing career, I planned everything. I used character profiles, made detailed outlines, and comprehensive story charts. I would read and edit a chapter repeatedly, trying to get it just right before moving on. What a waste of time. I do none of that now. Bob used no sketches or tracings and often mixed the paint right on the canvas. He started with the time of year and day, then let everything else just happen. Nothing is permanent. Just like Bob using his pallet knife to scrape a tree from existence, you have the power of the delete button. If something doesn’t work, change it. If it’s resistant, delete it. Simple as that. “This is your world, and you have infinite power.”

Be bold and make big decisions
With infinite power comes big decisions. Bob stressed to be bold, or in other words, “This is your bravery test.” I’ve often watched Bob spend almost the whole show creating a beautiful painting only to dip that big old two-inch brush into dark paint and splatter on a giant tree in the foreground at the last few minutes of a live show. Was it always the right decision for the composition? No, but sometimes it pushed a painting from the mundane to something interesting. Bob knew what he was doing. He was trying to show how to be brave and take chances. If you don’t do that, then why do it at all?

Need the dark to show the light
Bob was very conscious about not covering up the dark with highlights. You need those dark tones to make the light sparkle. Happiness is meaningless unless there is sadness, pleasure becomes mute without pain, and good has no measure without evil. Don’t be afraid to go to that dark place. Spend some time there. When you rise above, it will really make things shine.

Everyone needs a friend
None of Bob Ross’s paintings have a single tree. It was almost a compulsion to give every evergreen a family. Similarly, get out of the character’s lonely head. This might be controversial. Some writers spend much time in that space, but I’ve tried to move away from the inner monologue as much as possible. Expressing thought in action and dialogue is challenging but can be fun too. It also means that a character needs a friend (or something) to talk to, whether it is an object, pet, companion, or a possessed sword 🙂 Each of us only experiences the internal thoughts of one person, ourselves. For the rest, it is observing behaviors and actions.

Three hairs and some air
There is a time for pushing that paint into the canvas. The rhythmic tapping of Bob’s brush as he loads on the dark sienna is part of the joy of watching the show (early ASMR), but he also applies a light touch to blend it all together- “three hairs and some air,” as he called it. Be subtle, drop hints, and scatter little secrets. Even if 90% of readers miss these treasures, when one makes a discovery, it gives the book some magic and may earn you a fan for life.

The thrill of cleaning a brush
Seemingly, nothing brought Bob Ross more joy than cleaning a dirty brush. The process was the same every time and often ended with a big smile and then, “beat the devil out of it.” I doubt it brought him that much joy. Hell, maybe it did, but I think the real purpose was to bring attention to the mundane. Maintaining your tools and doing the everyday boring things you don’t want to do is essential to being an artist. Just like cleaning a brush, a writer needs to edit. Pretend it brings you joy, and then “beat the devil out of it.”

Fickleness of life
Bob Ross died in 1995 at 52. The last episode of the “Joy of Painting” aired in May of 1994. He worked to the end, letting few know he was dying of Lymphoma. It makes watching each episode bittersweet (especially that last season) because so much of his personality is in each show. The format was simple, and thus all attention was on him. There is much to learn from this, and each takes away their own lesson. For me, it hits in two places. First, there is a semblance of hope that we can live on in our work and that it can impact people long after we’re gone. Second, we can find wisdom in many places. I’ve immersed myself in the craft of writing, read books, watched videos, took classes, etc., but I found some great inspiration in a fuzzy-haired painter with a golden voice and a carefree hand. Thanks, Bob!

Cheers!