Keep Your Passion for Writing Alive

 

A friend once had the poster above on her Facebook page. Definitely advice that is short and sweet but, oh so good. I'd like to have it blown up to poster size and tack it to the wall above my computer. Maybe I should get two and put one on the fridge as a reminder to get myself to the office to write. Or how about another in the laundry room? 

It's far too easy to allow life to get in the way of our writing, especially at holiday time. We have the best of intentions to spend X amount of time writing each day, but our world sometimes has other plans. Children need us, husbands require help in finding something. (What is it about men who have lived in the same place for years and years but still can't find numerous items?) The phone rings, or the doorbell. We're needed at a meeting or must run to the store to pick up milk and bread. The list could go on and on. 

We have responsibilities that must be met, and that's just fine. As long as we keep writing a primary task, we'll be alright. Just don't let it slip farther and farther down the to-do list. Once it hits near the bottom of the list, your writing world is going to become dimmer and dimmer. You run the risk of stopping altogether. I've seen people in my critique group quit. They say things like "I'm just not writing anymore." or "Right now, other things in my life are of more importance." Probably true but it makes me sad. I wonder if they will ever resume writing.

Most writers pursue their craft because they're passionate about writing. Make no mistake, it takes some doing to keep that passion lit. Like anything else, we sometimes have to truly work at it. We need some encouragement as well. And maybe we need some occasional success to keep the spark alive. 

For now, I'm going to let the poster of those four hunks keep me going. How about you? What will you do to keep your passion for writing alive?

My Turn To Share 'Why I Write"

Nancy Julien Kopp

For the past four days, Guest Bloggers have treated us to some of their innermost thoughts on why they write. Each has given a different perspective. I am grateful to Karori, Terri, Terry, and Joan for taking time to share with us. One of the side benefits of being a writer is meeting and getting to know great writers like these four. 

Now, it's my turn. I'll pose the same three questions to myself: 

 1.  Why do you write?

 2.  What does it satisfy within?

 3. How do you keep your passion for writing alive and well?

From the time I learned to read in first grade, I have loved words, stories and books. I was of the era when kids learned to read with the help of Dick and Jane, Baby Sally and their pets, Spot and Puff. They became old friends as we skipped through one book after another following the adventures of this family of children, dog and cat and parents named Mother and Father. As I became more proficient, I moved on to other books. I read constantly. Yes, I was a bookworm. I became a frequent patron of our public library and still am.

That love of reading inspired my love of writing, even though it did not happen for a good many years. The desire to write was instilled in my growing-up years but the actual habit did not develop until I was in my early fifties. Oh, how I rue that wasted time now. I cannot blame anyone but myself for the long delay. I allowed 'life' to get in the way. I probably used it as an excuse because there was an element of fear involved, too. Could I? Dare I? Should I? 

Once the now or never moment occurred, I forged on. There I was, age 53, a novice and my writing screamed 'beginner' but I persisted until I had learned more about the craft of writing and had improved enough to be a published writer. I wrote short pieces, not books. The more I wrote, the more I loved doing so and I've never taken a step back.

I write because it allows me to give something to others. I have always been a service oriented person. On a college aptitude test, I scored 96% in 'serving others' and a mere 1% in mechanical ability/interest.' The professor who went over the test with me looked at that measly 1% and said, "You don't even like to open a can, do you?" Needless to say, this is why I started my blog to give tips and encouragement to other writers. Helping other writers pleases me and allows me to share the knowledge I've gained over the years.

I write to help preserve the past by writing family stories.  In my generation of my family, no one but me does it. I have a granddaughter who writes and will, hopefully, carry on the tradition of recording our family stories. 

I write because I love putting words together to form a story, a poem or an essay. Doing so gives me great inner satisfaction. It affords me a sense of accomplishment, allows me to know I am meeting my long-term goal of being a writer. I find it satisfying to look at a blank screen or piece of paper, and know that I can fill it because of my passion for writing.

I write because I have something to say--just like so many other writers. Being able to have an outlet to 'say it' brings a form of satisfaction, too. 

I keep my love for writing alive by practicing my craft on a regular basis. This blog allows me to do so five days a week but I also make sure I continue writing other things frequently, as well. The more I write, the more I want to keep going. It's like my love for chocolate. I never seem to get quite enough and have to go back for more. 

Belonging to an active online writing group also feeds my passion for writing. Our members spur one another. 

How about you? Have you given thought this week to why you write?

I hope you have enjoyed our Guest Blogger Week. I certainly did. 

Guest Blogger Three: Why I Write

Terry Needham

Terry was a reader of my blog who contacted me and asked if I'd review his book if he sent me a copy. I agreed and he sent three different books--a poetry collection, a children's book and a fine memoir about his uncle. He lives and writes at Lake of the Ozarks, MO. His short, but heartfelt, response to my questions is below along with his credits. 

1. Why do you write?

2.  What does it satisfy within?

3. How do you keep your passion for writing alive and well?

Terry's Response

Why do you write?

I write to express the love I have known from my mother, father, aunts and uncles, grandparents, brothers and sisters, and friends and lovers. Each one conjures up a set of memories, and stories, that percolate within me, until I release them into space on the printed page . . . to be shared with anyone who cares to read.

2.      What does it satisfy within?

Sharing my memories that are rooted in love is my way of spreading the love I feel to others, and giving those stories permanence, to last as long as anyone cares to read what I have written.

3.      How do you keep your passion for writing alive and well?

As long as my memories last, I shall feel the love they conjure up, and thus the urge within my passion to spread the love is nourished.

This is a poem I wrote years ago that also answers these three questions, in the spirit of humor and writing for the sake of writing.

Unreasonable

I did not write this poem . . .

                to make money.

I did not write this poem . . .

                to be funny.

I did not write this poem . . .

                to be cool,

I did not write this poem . . .

                to be cruel,

I did not write this poem . . .

                to just profess.

I did not write this poem . . .

                to just confess.

I did not write this poem . . .

                to make you glad

I did not write this poem . . .

                to make you sad.

I did not write this poem . . .

                to teach a lesson.

I did not write this poem . . .

                to keep you guessing.

I did not write this poem . . .

                to have a ball.

I wrote this poem ---

                For no reason at all!

© April 22, 1994 T. L. Needham

BIO:  

 Terry Needham started writing and publishing when in the real estate business. He came home to Kansas City to write a book: Winning and Keeping Relocation Business, he then founded a national news magazine: Relocation/Realty UPDATE, and became a national consultant, speaker and trainer on real estate and corporate relocation issues. His publishing firm also published a Who’s Who in Relocation directory and regional newsletters for Habitat for Humanity. Needham also owned and published Kansas City Parent magazine, and published many other periodicals including five local Bar Association newsletters.

 In retirement, Needham became a full-time writer and in 2008 he published a collection of poems—PESKY POEMS, which won a READERS FAVORITE SILVER MEDAL award; and in 2010 published a historic memoir—When I Was A Child, which won USA BEST BOOKS Award, a READERS FAVORITE BRONZE MEDAL award, Honorable Mention Award-Writers Digest, plus the Best Cover award, plus a GOLD MEDAL from eBook Global Awards; and in 2012 he published an illustrated children’s Christmas story-poem—KITTY CLAUS, which was awarded a GOLD MEDAL by READERS FAVORITE; then in 2014 Needham published a novella—The She Wolf, which received an HONORABLE AWARD from READERS FAVORITE.

All of Needham’s books are available at his website: http://tlneedham.com/;

Or on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/tlneedham;

or email Needham direct @ needham@accessus.net 

Guest Blogger Two: Why I Write

Terri Elders

Terri Elders lives in California and is, like me, a senior who writes and enjoys it. We have been in several of the same anthologies. Read her interesting response to the three questions I asked.

1.  Why do you write?
2. What does it satisfy within?
3. How do you keep your passion for writing alive and well?

Terri's Response

If This Won't Suit…

By the time I got to junior high and struggled through sewing class I learned I’d never be clever with a needle like Grandma.

Some dreams, though, die hard. My dreams had always involved succeeding at something that I loved doing. I’d love sewing, just like Grandma. When the school year concluded, I decided I’d spend my summer seeking another endeavor…and another mentor.

I’d already accepted I wouldn’t be a ballerina like Anna Pavlova or a long-distance swimmer like Gertrude Ederle. Now that I had to rule out Grandma, too, who could I emulate? Where could I find someone to model my life on? Then, one afternoon as I reread my favorite book, Little Women, it became clear. I caught my breath when I read Jo March’s ringing affirmation in Chapter 14. She’d just sent off some stories to a potential publisher.

 "There,” she proclaimed, “I've done my best! If this won't suit, I shall have to wait till I can do better."

Maybe a role model didn’t have to be an actual living person. Maybe a fictional character would do. I certainly could identify with Jo’s initial hesitation and subsequent bravery. I, too, had attempted to write stories, but aside from a letter accepted for the children’s page of the Portland Oregonian, I’d never been published.

But it might not be too late. I planned to talk to my counselor about taking journalism as an elective when school began again in September. I’d always looked forward to writing essays in my English classes. Maybe I could become a reporter for the school paper, The Naturalist.

This time, at last, I met with success. I appeared to have enough aptitude to pair with my attitude. I particularly relished taking my turn at writing the continuing column, “Silhouettes,”  profiles of teachers and student leaders. I’d play with fleshing my stories out, trying to make my subjects dazzle, like the characters Jo and her sisters so admired in Charles Dickens’ Pickwick Papers. Whenever my teacher or fellow students offered criticism on my stories, Jo’s words would echo in my mind, “If this won’t suit, I shall have to wait till I can do better.”

I never had to wait long. If I reread my own work a few days later with a critical eye, I’d find a way to do better. That’s when I learned that the secret to good writing, as Jo knew, lay in rewriting.

I continued to write in high school and college, never failing to delight in playing with words…just like Jo. When I transferred from a community college to a state university, some unidentified teacher had scribbled in the upper right-hand corner of my transcript, “Said to be creative.”

Over the years I’ve wondered about the identity of the person who wrote that cryptic comment or if that anonymous annotator realized that all I’d ever wanted to do was to succeed at something I loved. Like Jo, I know that writing involves play, playing with ideas, playing with words, playing until I can play better, arranging...and then rearranging.

Unlike Jo, I’ve never written a play or even a novel. I’ve stuck to shorter pieces, essays, commentary, reviews, and true stories for anthologies. Writing, nonetheless, has remained my lifetime avocation, my source of joy. A blank page always has been my playground.

When friends inquire about “writer’s block,” I claim I’ve never encountered it. Jo’s spirit always remains with me…she never thought of writing as work, as something to suffer through, as something to be endured. Oh, no! For her, it was always play. In a psychology class, I came across a quote of Carl Jung’s. He had written, “The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.”

How true, I thought. Jo never doubted her ability. She never hesitated to retreat to her attic, assemble her words, and enjoy herself. Her creative spirit remains my inspiration. It never deserts me.

Even though I’d been forced to set aside the dreams of sewing my own prom dress, or dancing in the chorus of Swan Lake, or coating of myself with oil to cross the English Channel, I’ve never allowed defeat to discourage me from trying something else. Through trial and error, I, fortunately, found where my talents lay…in persistently playing with words.

Oh, sure, there’ve been times when I’m trying to write a story and patterns fail to form, or the message remains elusive, or I begin to feel too frazzled to dazzle. When it doesn’t feel like play, I put the piece away. I owe myself a break. I take that tip from Jo. I wait until I can do better. It’s the best advice I’ve ever come across.

It’s never a very long wait. And when inspiration strikes again, I remind myself that I owe it all to Jo. I am eternally indebted to Louisa May Alcott for creating her. That little woman has loomed large in my life.

Bio: Terri Elders, LCSW, a lifelong writer and editor, has contributed to over a hundred anthologies, including multiple editions of Chicken Soup for the Soul. She writes feature articles and travel pieces for regional, national, and international publications. After a quarter-century odyssey, including a decade overseas with Peace Corps, she recently returned to her native California. She blogs at http://atouchoftarragon.blogspot.com/

Writer--Are You Wishy-Washy Or Passionate?

This is one of my most popular posts from a few years ago. I felt it was worth repeating. Some of you may have read it while others have not seen it before. 

Wishy-washy or passionate? Which one describes your writing life? I've heard more than one person expound on wanting to be a writer. They talk about it and take a half-hearted stab at it, then give up when they don't see immediate results.

A star athlete became a star because passion for his sport burned within. The basketball player who doesn't have that intensity is the guy who spends the game on the bench. The writer who doesn't harbor those intense feelings is one who will not have a long list of publications behind his/her name.

How do you get that passion? Can't buy it. Can't steal it from anyone else. Can't wish it into fruition. You have to love something a great deal to spark that depth of feeling. You have to want more than the glory of being a successful writer. You need to write for the love of writing. Those who love beautiful prose when they read are ones who will try to equal it in their own writing.

I held my desire to write in check for many years. I waited until my children were independent adults, and as I've said many times here, that probably was not the smart thing to do. I wish I had followed my desire earlier, but there is no way to rectify that now. Still, the embers glowed within me all those years and when I finally got started writing the stories and essays I'd often thought about, it burst into a flame that still burns within me nearly twenty years later.

Does having a passion for writing ensure you'll be a successful writer? No, it doesn't. What it does promise is that you'll continue writing and most likely will continue to be a better writer. If the passion is alive and well, the writer will take all the other steps to grow in his/her chosen field.

If you don't have that passion now, does it mean you should quit? I don't think so. Maybe if you keep working at it, the spark will ignite when you least expect it. Give it some more time.

Passion Is A Plus

I live in a university community, and like so many others here, I’m a big fan of Kansas State football and basketball. One Saturday night a few years ago, our basketball team played the #1 team in the nation which also happens to be our in-state arch rival. Ah yes, the mighty KU! Year after year, they have beaten us, but occasionally we step up and surprise them. And this, we thought, would be the year it happened again. The fans were in a frenzy after being on ESPN Game Day earlier that morning. 12,500 screaming faithful in what is now termed the Octagon of Doom. Which translates into our 8 sided basketball arena.

That season, our team scratched its way into the Top 25 rankings, moving all the way up to #11 in one poll. We beat Texas who was #1 at the time. We beat Baylor in their arena and we had a team that believed they could win.

One player in particular played with such fervor that the other players followed him like the Pied Piper. Jacob Pullen, a junior guard from the Chicago suburbs, had the passion needed to be a winner. He played his heart out. He and his teammates didn’t win every game. That day they lost to KU by 2 points in overtime in what has been hailed as one of basketball’s truly memorable games. The loss was disappointing, but it wouldn’t dampen the passion Jacob displayed in every game. I knew that he’d show up for the next game with the same drive as he had in the previous one. He knew you don’t give up, you keep going. If you sit down and nurse your wounds, feed on your heartbreak, the rest of the world will pass right on by. I felt certain that if  he carried this trait into his post-college world, he’d do just fine.

Writers who have continuous passion for what they do are going to find success much sooner than those who feel it only sometimes. It’s a kind of magic when you can write with passion day after day. The passion seed is planted, and it grows little by little until it becomes a part of who you are.

Why do some have it and others don’t? I’m not sure I have the answer, but perhaps it comes from desire and goals they strive to attain. How badly do you want to be a successful writer? Are you satisfied writing a daily journal that no one else sees? Or do you want to write words that you can share with the world? Jacob Pullen wanted to take his team straight to the top, and he kept working in every practice session and every game to achieve that goal. Will you? Are you willing to make a total commitment to being a writer? 

Wishy-washy Or Passionate?

Wishy-washy or passionate? Which one describes your writing life? I've heard more than one person expound on wanting to be a writer. They talk about it and take a half-hearted stab at it, then give up when they don't see immediate results.

A star athlete became a star because passion for his sport burned within. The basketball player who doesn't have that intensity is the guy who spends the game on the bench. The writer who doesn't harbor those intense feelings is one who will not have a long list of publications behind his/her name.

How do you get that passion? Can't buy it. Can't steal it from anyone else. Can't wish it into fruition. You have to love something a great deal to spark that depth of feeling. You have to want more than the glory of being a successful writer. You need to write for the love of writing. Those who love beautiful prose when they read are ones who will try to equal it in their own writing.

I held my desire to write in check for many years. I waited until my children were independent adults, and as I've said many times here, that probably was not the smart thing to do. I wish I had followed my desire earlier, but that's water over the damn now. Still, the embers glowed within me all those years and when I finally got started writing the stories and essays I'd often thought about, it burst into a flame that still burns within me nearly twenty years later.

Does having a passion for writing insure you'll be a successful writer? No, it doesn't. What it does promise is that you'll continue writing and most likely will continue to be a better writer. If the passion is alive and well, the writer will take all the other steps to grow in his/her chosen field.

If you don't have that passion now, does it mean you should quit? I don't think so. Maybe if you keep working at it, the spark will ignite when you least expect it. Give it some more time.

Keep Your Passion For Writing Alive

A friend had the poster above on her facebook page yesterday. Definitely advice that is short and sweet but oh so good. I'd like to have it blown up to poster size and tack it to the wall above my computer. Maybe I should get two and put one on the fridge as a reminder to get myself to the office to write. Or how about another in the laundry room? 

It's far too easy to allow life to get in the way of our writing. We have the best of intentions to spend X amount of time writing each day, but our world sometimes has other plans. Children need us, husbands require help in finding something. (What is it about men who have lived in the same place for years and years but still can't find numerous items?) The phone rings, or the doorbell. We're needed at a meeting or must run to the store to pick up milk and bread. The list could go on and on. 

We have responsibilities that must be met, and that's just fine. As long as we keep writing a primary task, we'll be alright. Just don't let it slip farther and farther down the to-do list. Once it hits near the bottom of the list, your writing world is going to become dimmer and dimmer. You run the risk of stopping altogether. I've seen people in my critique group quit. They say things like "I'm just not writing anymore." or "Right now, other things in my life are of more importance." Probably true but it makes me sad.

Most writers pursue their craft because they're passionate about writing. Make no mistake, it takes some doing to keep that passion lit. Like anything else, we sometimes have to truly work at it. We need some encouragement as well. And maybe we need some occasional success to keep the spark alive. 

For now, I'm going to let the poster of those four hunks keep me going. How about you? What will you do to keep your passion for writing alive?

Wednesday On Tuesday

Cole and Jordan

We're leaving for our daughter's home near Kansas City very early tomorrow morning. We were suppose to go late this afternoon, but a very stormy day with reports of more severe weather through the night caused us to change our plans. We'll get up before the chickens and be on the road before seven a.m. Thus, the reason for the Wednesday post on Tuesday evening.

Our grandson, Cole, is graduating from pre-school at 10 a.m. and we are invited guests. He is mighty excited about this big event. So, it's important that we be there for him.

Later that evening, his sister, Jordan, has her dance recital, so we'll be happy participants in that event. It's very nice to be close enough to attend special things for our grandchildren. I've missed doing that for our two granddaughters in Dallas. They also had special things in their lives last week-end. Gracen had a dance recital and Alexis went to prom. Both on the same night, so their parents were kept rather busy. Thank Heaven for photos and the ease of sending them via the internet. It's not as good as being there, but runs a close second.

Gracen at her recital

Alexis and her date, Andrew

Just goes to show that writers do have more in their lives than writing. As passionate as I am about writing, my family comes at the top of my list of things I love.