Monday, February 28, 2011

Back to the beginning

Tonight, my sweet friend Bree reminded me of why I started writing.

I didn't begin my journey with dollar signs or Nebula's in my eyes.

I never saw my agenda based upon how many tours I could do or what superstar agent I'd managed to land.

I started writing for the pure joy of it. I started writing because I had to, because there were stories and characters who lived in my mind and demanded to be given breath and life.

But like so many of you, I'm sure, the years of education and experience have shifted my purpose. As of late, I've been writing to fit into a given standard. I've written to fall in line with what others insist is acceptable. In short, I haven't truly written for myself.

I don't blame anyone but myself. You see, I've found that when we begin to focus on the business of writing rather than the art of it, the result is, many times, stories that are only half imagined, that only realize their potential in the vaguest sense.

Now, I don't believe it's a bad thing to understand the way publishing works or what is "publishable." I'm not completely green; I do understand that books need to be sold. But I've become disheartened by the motivation for which I write. It bothers me immensely that I've put aside the joy of writing for the duty of it. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I wrote with raw, unabashed fervor, with the purpose of only writing a story I want to read.

As I told a friend of mine tonight, sometimes the best stories we write are the ones we keep hidden from the world.

So instead of setting word count goals for myself, my intentions have changed. Instead of making myself adhere to some certain genre requirement, I'm going to try to go back to my old love: pure, joyful writing.

50 comments:

A. J. Larrieu said...

A great, great goal. Sometimes I really have to turn off those "will this sell?" voices, because the reality is, nobody knows. We can look at what's sold in the past and try to extrapolate, but then something that breaks all the rules will also break all the records. Besides, if I'm not writing what I want & need to write, what's the point? Best of luck recovering the joy. I'm sure you'll find it.

(P.S. There's another nice post on this topic at Lucy Morgan's blog.)

Heather said...

Bravo, you go girl! I think this is awesome and it's great advice all of us writers need to listen to. We must do this because we love it!

TS Tate said...

Thanks, ladies. I appreciate the encouragement. I'm just trying to get back to a place where my desire is to tell the story that's in my heart. It's hard because external influences, but then, I need to remember that I've never been a sheep. :P Thanks again!

Lisa Gail Green said...

Yeah!!! Don't ever, ever, ever lose that!

TS Tate said...

Thanks, Lisa.

Unknown said...

Brilliant. You've just summed up the way a lot of us feel and the direction in which too many of us have drifted.

Jan Rider Newman said...

Oops, sorry. I meant that last comment to be from me, not "Swamp."

TS Tate said...

Heh, thanks, Jan. :)

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