By Milli Thornton

Courtesy Infrogmation, Wikimedia Commons
It’s okay if you are not writing from passion central 24/7. I’d be stiffer than a cast-iron lawn dog if I had to expend that much energy. Nope, I’ll take the passion ones when they come my way. It’s just that I’ve decided to not be so random about it.
I found that arresting. I felt I’d be cheating myself if I carried on with my busy day, tackling my never-ending To-Do list while neglecting to do something with that bait.
I took out a decorative journal—a 2006 farewell present from the members of a Fear of Writing group I’d started back in Boerne, Texas. This journal is so ornate and special-looking, I had only used about fifteen pages in all those years. You know that feeling? I can’t write in this gorgeous journal / start my story / write a blog post / work on my novel because I might mess it up.
As I leafed through to get to a blank page, I noticed I’d once written
CREATIVELY JAZZED
near the bottom of an entry about what to call my creative muse. This was not the name I gave her, this was how I wanted to feel.
That was it! The motto for the exploring I was about to do.
That journaling session was sweet. By taking the time to write about being less random with my passion, I managed to tap into some passion for writing that I wasn’t already feeling.
How much time and energy do we writers put into worrying about what we haven’t written yet? Or whether we can do justice to our work-in-progress? Or a jillion other self-defeating thoughts? Just think. If we put even a quarter of that energy toward exploring what really makes us passionate, we’d be almost guaranteed to find ways to get more writing done. And enjoyed!
What will you do today to explore feeling creatively jazzed?
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MILLI THORNTON (aka Milliver) is the author of Fear of Writing. She is owner of the Fear of Writing Online Course and Unleash Your Writing!, where her mission is to put the fun back into writing. Milli blogs at Milliver’s Travels and Screenwriting in the Boonies and coaches at Writer’s Muse Coaching Service.