Fellow blogger Elizabeth Syson remembers why she writes. The following quotes in particular resonate with me:
“I write for people—people I care about. . . Because other writers gave voice to my own fears and dreams. Because if I can touch one person’s life in even the minutest way—if I can bring about a single smile or let a single person know they’re significant—I’ve accomplished my purpose.”
“Writing is about loving words and sharing ideas, working out impossible dreams and inspiring conversation. My writing is an extension of me, not the other way around, and that’s a vital difference. I define my work. My work does not define me.”
I thought some of you might love words, the perspectives and worlds they reveal, the ideas they inspire. A simple turn of phrase can prove to be the key that unlocks the door to a deeper understanding, to peace long sought, to laughter in dark times, to joy or the fellowship of validation and affirmation. Words are powerful, they build up or tear down, comfort or destroy, clarify or obscure, bridge gaps or increase distance. May we all exercise wisdom and discernment in their use for the pen really can be mightier than the sword!
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“Sometimes I think I should quit writing and do something simple, like neurosurgery.”
I give this answer from time to time when people ask about my writing or when I’m faced with a insurmountable writers block. Sometimes I say “rocket science” or “quantum physics” instead of “neurosurgery,” but the gist remains the same.
It gets a laugh out of people. More importantly, it deflects attention and saves me from admitting I feel inadequate.
This never happened before I became a writing major. Back in high school, I remember constant excitement as I switched between drafts, writing whatever caught my fancy at any given moment. I could ramble for hours about my ideas, and I proudly finished draft after draft and filed them away for revisions. Publishing hovered in the future somewhere, waiting for the day I had edited something to my satisfaction and found an agent, or whatever it was you had to do…
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