Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Focus on your desire to write, not your unit sales


I've linked to Ask Cary here before, but once again he has written beautifully about writing and the writing life, so I can't help but share. This time, he talks about how writers who are down on their work should focus on what brought them to dream about becoming a writer, not some outside measure of success (publication, number of readers, etc.).

Like many writers, what brought me to writing was the idea of expressing myself, the truths about my life, and, I think, life in general. Personally I find it very hard to talk about these concepts directly, so writing about fictional characters who are dealing with them is the safest, best way for me to get those ideas across to others. What I've learned as I've written is that often times the writing also helps me learn the truths about myself that are buried fairly deep, which I wouldn't get to if I didn't take the time to think, reflect, write, and revise.

How about you? What brought you to writing? What keeps you going?

I'll leave you with a quote from Cary that touched me:

...Soon I realized that there were other secret languages and other people who could read these secret languages. That was the vision that excited me and made me want to be a writer: I wanted to find a secret voice within myself like the one Dylan Thomas had found, and begin speaking it and see if anyone could understand me. To this day, when I grow weak and tired, I seek that primary thrill of adolescence; I try to re-create for myself my own strange, secret language. Best Blogger Tips

Friday, May 22, 2009

Dear blog

I'm so sorry for ignoring you, blog! Things have been crazy, with a ton of day-job work, and a trip to Ireland (pictures to come!), as well as some gardening and house projects. Phew. I've been busy! But I do promise to try to be better about getting over here to muse about writing and the writing life.

In the meantime, here are some quotes I came across today on Post Secret, one of my favorite blogs of all time. These are pieces of advice to graduates. If there are any readers out there who haven't given up on me, I hope you enjoy these:

“He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.”

Contrary to popular belief, these are not the best years of your life, just the least complicated.

"Today you are you, that is truer than true. There will never be anyone youer than you."

"The hardest part isn't finding who we need to be. It's being content with who you are." Best Blogger Tips