Tuesday, September 8, 2009

I've got the writing in me

Tip of the Day: when things get discouraging, try to remember why you started writing in the first place.

No one in their right mind would choose novel writing for a career. Not knowing when your next paycheck is coming, writing for many years without a payoff, and the intense rejections that flood you before a sale that make Simon Cowell’s remarks on American Idol seem sweet and kind.

Therefore in my honest opinion, I think writing as a career finds you. It’s in those people that just can’t help but wake up at five in the morning because they are excited about a new story idea and have to get started…now. It’s in those of us that feel like we’ve won the lottery every time a book by our favorite author comes out. Writing is just in you.

For me personally, I didn’t realize writing was in me, until I wasn’t writing. School was finished and my day job at the time didn’t require extensive writing. Something just felt off. I’d get the itch to break down my day into manageable paragraphs with a topic sentence. After I realized how boring my own day could be, it became fun to imagine a much, more exciting life. And then stories just came naturally from that.

They haven’t stopped coming since.

Trying to find a way to take these stories to the next level with amazing description, action, plot, and believable and likable characters has been a daily challenge. But a challenge I’ve loved embracing. Definitely not what I’d expected the first day I discovered writing in me. Some days it’s a million times better than I imagined, and other days it makes me wish I’d had acting or, better yet, singing in me.

But it’s not like you can choose your big passions in life, so it’s best to embrace them, learn from them, and give them all you can.

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

2 comments:

amuse me said...

Very well put. :) M

Anonymous said...

Yup, yup, yup!