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?
———
Milli Thornton
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.
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Yep. You hit the cast iron lawn dog right on the nose with that one Milli. I also have exquisite journals grinning at me in the empty gorgeousness, knowing they intimidate me no end. So I buried them in a drawer and one of them I sent to friend so she can figure out what to dump on the pages. I prefer the WalMart composition books I can get for 17 cents in the August back-to-school madness. Doesn’t matter what inane meanderings find their way into those pages, and more gems show up there than anywhere else. A case of uncovering a Black Beauty in the pile of horse manure?
Very entertaining comment, Sandra. 😀
I love those cheap notebooks too. I use them to write short stories. Something about the way the pen feels on the page and knowing I can make a mess to my heart’s content makes it more fun.
Wow, the more I interact with other writers, the more I realize I am not alone in my “eccentricities” (ha ha). I have about three journals, all gifts, languishing in a drawer, for just the same reasons. I don’t want to “mar” them with my imperfect ramblings and creations.
Maybe it is just a writer’s nature to seek perfection, and to want to minimize the evidence of the sloppy process – ie. not fill those beautiful journals with it. That said, I think much of my own fear of writing comes from – even though I know better – fear of putting dreck on the page.
I spend a fair amount of time worrying about what I haven’t written yet, knowing on some level that once I just get started it’s going to take me somewhere… Maybe it’s time to dig out those old journals.
I don’t always start out passionate when I’m writing, but the act itself seems to (almost) always ignite those feelings once I get going.
Thanks, Milli, for another thought provoking article!
Fear of writing dreck. Maybe that’s what I should have called my book! 😀
I’m glad this blog post struck a chord with you. I hope you do unveil those journals and make some messes in them. If you use various colored pens (gel pens are my favorite) the messes at least look artistic. And when you read back over it much later, you realize you were writing some wisdom and other good stuff along with the mundane rants.