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WritersNotes.Net: Helping Writers Follow Their Dreams Through Information, Inspiration, and Encouragement!
This post is a reprint of a piece I originally wrote as a guest post for Michele Tune at Writing the Cyber Highway. Some of you may remember that it first appeared there on June 2, 2008. Hope you'll enjoy it--and hope it will give you some helpful tools you can use to find--or generate--the motivation to write.
Motivation to Write: Is There a Magic Formula?
When You Don’t Feel Like Writing
How do you motivate yourself to write when you don’t feel like writing? How do you convince yourself to get down to business when you’d rather do anything but?
Have you ever had those days when you just can’t seem to face the prospect of writing that article that’s coming due, that query letter you know you should write, or that blog post that will remind your readers that you haven’t fallen off the face of the earth…that you’re not only still around but that you’re actually still interested in sharing your wit and wisdom with them? (I thought so!) You want to write, but you just can’t seem to make yourself do it.
Lack of Motivation: A Common Problem
Every writer struggles with these feelings from time to time—many of us quite often. And for bloggers and other online writers who work from home, life can be particularly distracting, as we’re continually bombarded not only with the household responsibilities that continually beckon, but also with the many available—and attractive—alternatives to working.
Such tempting activities as commenting on other blogs, visiting social media sites, checking our site stats, looking for nifty high-tech tools for our web pages, reading unrelated but interesting content during our online research, and any number of other enjoyable and otherwise productive activities often only serve to intensify our motivation problem and derail us from our efforts to fulfill our writing responsibilities.
What’s a Writer to Do?
The most important thing is to realize that motivation is a state of mind. It can come from many sources. Some of them follow.
The Writer’s Most Common Motivation Sources
Enthusiasm
When we’re feeling really enthusiastic about a project, don’t we find it so much easier to throw ourselves into completing it—even when the project itself is difficult or involved? If you can work up the enthusiasm to actually relish the prospect of writing about your topic, you will have won a great victory.
To do that, try taking your focus off the negative aspects of the project and focusing, instead, on something positive about the piece—something you can actually enjoy about it. If the subject matter itself doesn’t interest you, try focusing on a specific writing technique that you’ve mastered which you’re particularly proud of and which you plan to use for the piece.
If need be, you can even focus on a favorite writing tool, some physical part of the writing process that you enjoy, or the satisfaction you receive from your excellent spelling ability, extensive vocabulary, fantastic research skills, or even the way your well-formatted work looks on the page. A little enthusiasm will go a long way toward helping you thrive on the journey ahead, making it so much easier to reach your destination.
Interest
When we’re interested in our topic, writing about it grips our attention, draws us into our content, and keeps us going. It causes time to fly by, making us wonder where it could have gone. Interest can fuel the energy that helps us build momentum, spurring us on toward the realization of our writing goals.
If you’re able to pick and choose your projects so you’re only required to write about topics that interest you, great! You’ll have a much easier time motivating yourself to complete your writing assignments. But, if not, try finding something about the project that captures your interest—even if it takes a stretch of the imagination to discover it. It will be well worth the effort!
If the project itself doesn’t hold any fascination for you, try asking yourself a few questions. Will publishing this piece open your work up to a wider audience, giving you greater exposure? Will it place you before a new demographic or offer you a coveted spot in a brand new niche? Will it add to your credibility as a writer and/or as an expert in your current niche or genre? Will it allow you to showcase your work to prospective new clients? Will it open new doors of opportunity for you in other areas either related or unrelated to writing? These are all great reasons for feeling motivated about your writing project!
Inspiration
Inspiration sweeps us high above the mediocrity of our surroundings, activating our imaginations and infusing us with a power that makes expressing our thoughts via the written word practically effortless. Don’t we just adore the times when we’re fortunate enough to function under the tutelage of this most welcome influence? When it strikes, we see everything in a brand new light, and that helps us rise to bold new heights of creativity. Yet, when inspiration tarries, we often become discouraged.
At times like these, we need to generate a little inspiration of our own. One way we can do this is through the vehicle of high and noble thoughts. Focusing on our ideals and on the meaningful messages we hope to convey to our readers through our writing can jump-start the inspiration process. We can also inspire ourselves through the purposeful recall of vividly meaningful memories, of people we’ve known and loved or joys we’ve experienced. Or we can generate inspiration through the intentional act of surrounding ourselves with beauty. Stirring music, beautiful art, a lovely garden, a distinctively decorated writing nook—all these can help us create an atmosphere that’s conducive to inspiration. And all these can help us motivate ourselves to write.
Reward
The expectation of reward can be another excellent motivator. The reward might be a tangible one like money or an intangible one like recognition. It can even be something as simple—yet sensational—as the sense of satisfaction or feeling of fulfillment we derive from our writing. Just knowing that our work will help someone or that someone will enjoy it can bring its own reward, strengthening our motivation to complete a project.
And though money can often be a great motivator, we sometimes feel we aren’t receiving sufficient compensation for our work—particularly in the web-writing arena, where the going rates tend to be lower—and this can have a demotivating effect on us. That’s why it’s so important not to overlook the intangible rewards—to allow them to provide the impetus to keep us moving forward.
The Role of Attitude in Motivation
We need to realize that we are responsible for our own attitudes. We choose our own thoughts, as well as the lens through which we view the world. We can choose to see our project as a problem—a burden that’s been thrust upon us and one that we must grit our teeth and struggle through, hating every minute of it. Or we can decide to think differently about it—to remain positive and proactively seek ways to make it more than just another piece of writing.
Sometimes it takes sheer willpower to motivate ourselves to write, but I’m convinced that we can make a conscious decision to throw ourselves into our project. (In fact, I know we can, because I’ve proven it to myself again and again in my own writing.) We can make our writing a real extension of who we are, infusing it with that spark of personality, talent, expertise, imagination, and careful craftsmanship that only we can provide, making it a piece we can be proud to write—even if it’s a project that wouldn’t otherwise move us.
The Writer’s Last Resort
When all else fails, we may need to put a popular anti-procrastination technique to work and just do it, trusting that the motivation will follow as we gradually enter into our project. At times like these, it helps to remember that the ability to write when we don’t feel like it—when the intrinsic motivation, interest, enthusiasm, and inspiration escape us—is what separates the professional from the amateur.
And that knowledge alone can serve as our last-ditch motivator—because it’s a truth that carries its own reward.
Happy writing!
Jeanne
Note: I will resume my Guide to Polished Writing shortly.
Did you enjoy this post? Have anything to add? Any motivational techniques of your own you'd like to share with us? We'd love to hear them!
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What Our Writing Is Made Of
Writing is a discipline that calls upon so many experiences, influences, facts, ideas, and emotions that it can be difficult to measure the effect of each of these on the literary whole. Because each of our lives, personalities, relationships, and outlooks differ so drastically, our own particular writing style, our tone, content, and insights tend quite naturally to reflect these personal values and combine to create the unique voice that is “us.”
Life Lessons Enrich Our Writing
Everyone and everything we encounter in life has a lesson in it—if we will only look for it. Sometimes that lesson will be glaringly obvious and sometimes buried a bit farther beneath the surface of our experience or our consciousness. Yet, it’s always there patiently waiting for us to discover its wisdom and apply it to our lives, increasing their richness. Only after we’ve done that can we apply that hard-won wisdom to our writing, one lesson at a time, and in that way pass it on to those for whom we write.
Some of My Own Lessons
Here are some lessons I’ve learned* during the course of my life:
School can be a place of real growth—yet not all learning happens there. Or perhaps it might be better said that “school” is everywhere.
Writing gives us the incredible privilege of speaking into the lives of other people. When our readers invite us in and attend to our words, it is we who receive the greater reward.
Children playing outside my window as I work remind me that laughter, simplicity, and chalk-pictures drawn all over the sidewalks of our lives bring a fresh, new perspective to an often inflexible grown-up world.
Television can be an insufferable distraction or a relaxing respite from overwork. At the same time, it can spark new ideas and increase knowledge. It’s up to each of us how we use it.
Recreation is an absolute necessity for a balanced life and an uninterrupted flow of inspiration. It rejuvenates us, recharges our batteries, replenishes our zeal, and renews our zest for life. Like the law of gravity, we ignore this truth to our own detriment.
Relatives shape our lives in so many ways; yet what we become is ultimately up to us. And the manner in which we use the lessons learned from our family ties determines who we will become and what we’ll have to offer those who later enter our lives.
Movies can affect us in powerful ways when artfully produced, touching our core, stirring noble emotions, and spurring us on to greater creativity. Classic movies often do this for me.
Friends help us feel better about ourselves than we think we should, building our confidence and helping us believe that we can accomplish our hearts’ desires—no matter what anyone else may think. They’re always in our corner, helping us fight the next round in the battle of life.
Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, colors, ages, and abilities—or disabilities. And the majority never receive the recognition they deserve. Yet, we are watching, and they profoundly affect our lives, giving us greater courage to face our own challenges and showing us that doing so is always well worth the effort.
Planes prove to us that we can do the impossible, that mankind—born without wings—can still soar high into the skies on wings powered by the science of aerodynamics, defying the laws of gravity, or by the magic of inspiration, defying the limits of mere logic.
Food of the physical, mental, and spiritual variety is necessary for health of body, mind, and spirit. Yet the single area where we seem to indulge most is the physical, though copious amounts of this type of food contribute the least of any of the three to our creativity.
Pets bring us pleasure and companionship and so often teach us the meaning of unconditional love, loyalty, and trust. Life with our pets is straightforward and uncomplicated, without the emotional complexity that so often plagues human relationships. When we bond with a beloved pet, we receive more than we give.
Trains are virtually unstoppable—as long as they remain on track. They teach us that we, too, will be unstoppable if we maintain our focus, build momentum, stay on track, and keep our eyes on the destination ahead.
Time marches incessantly forward, waiting for nothing, relentlessly passing, and quietly but powerfully leaving its mark on everything within its massive sphere of influence. It reminds us that nothing ever remains as it was, that life is dynamic, that we either grow or decay, improve or regress, move forward or backward with every passing day.
Space symbolizes freedom, the ability to move about without restraint—within as well as without. It represents our ability to break the self-imposed emotional bonds that constrain us and keep us imprisoned within their invisible yet powerful walls—and almost irresistibly beckons us to do so.
Automobiles represent convenience, mobility, “shorter” distances between people and between people and places. They narrow the gap that nature has placed in our path and help us to use the freedom of space to our greatest advantage. Our psychological “automobiles” are any of the things that minimize the relational “gaps” between people—things like understanding, respect, courtesy, love, and forgiveness.
Technology teaches us the vastness of human potential, promising not only future discoveries by the geniuses of the world for the improvement of our lives but also the virtually limitless nature of our own personal discoveries, our own as yet unrealized possibilities. It also connects us to people, products, information, and services in ways we’ve never connected before, enriching us in the process.
Mountains remind us that, though life isn’t always easy, it’s beautiful, glorious, majestic, and wholly worthwhile; and as long as we keep on climbing, we always have a chance of reaching the top.
Keep learning...climbing...and writing!
Jeanne
This post is my entry to the Middle Zone Musings What I Learned From…Mashing It Up! group writing project.
* Just to clarify: The 18 areas in which I've discussed my lessons learned were not chosen by me, but were the 18 fascinating topics Robert Hruzek dreamed up especially for this WILF mashup.
Did you enjoy this post? Have anything to add? Care to share any lessons you've learned along the way? We'd love to hear them!
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Happy Mother's Day to All the Moms Who Read Writer's Notes!
To wish all the moms who read my blog a Happy Mother's Day, I'd like to post my poem, "Mothers." (As soon as you begin reading it, you'll recognize immediately the famous poem on which it's based.)
MOTHERS
I think that I shall never see
a brush surpass the artistry
That brings to bud the eve or morn
a helpless little babe is born
The delicate maternal bloom
that sheds a fragrant new perfume,
That nurtures with the nectar of
a sweet and freely flowing love
And fills her field with beauty spread
by outstretched arms and sun-turned head.
Art can tap one well or other,
but only God can make a mother.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You may have read Mothers on the Orble Poems blog. It's posted there, though on that blog, it's formatted slightly differently.
If you'd like to read some modern quotes about motherhood, here's a link to my post, Cleverly Contemporary Quotes on Motherhood.
Have a very Happy Mother's Day!
Jeanne
Mother and infant thumbnail image comes from the Karen's Whimsy collection of Public Domain Images. (Image also available in larger size.)
Did you enjoy this post? Have anything to add? Know any poems or quotes about moms? I'd love to hear from you!
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Part 2: Places, Real or Imagined
Every writer understands the powerful influence our surroundings can exert on our creativity. We all have favorite places where we feel more tranquil, more energized, more imaginative, or more expressive--in short, more attuned to our Muse. These places differ for everyone--and even for the same writer at different times. Yet, they are the places that tend to inspire us the most--to draw from somewhere deep within us the feelings and thoughts and ultimately the words that carry our souls across the miles to connect with those for whom we write.
Real Places that Bring Us Real Vision
For some, it might be a particular room in your home where you're perfectly content and your mind is free to roam, or perhaps a special chair where your relaxation is complete and you’re free to sit back and indulge in grand imaginings. For others it could be a tree-shaded spot in the back yard, where you sit undisturbed for hours with the breeze gently blowing through your hair, while you dream your personal dreams of wonder, weaving fanciful tales of courage and grandeur. Maybe it's your garden, where you dig up the soil, burying your hands in the moist, cool earth as you plant the seeds of thought that bring forth a bountiful harvest of beauty which fragrantly fills the air. Or you might prefer the seashore, where the sound of the breaking surf combined with the crisp salt air invigorates your spirit and fills your heart with high adventure.
Finding Inspiration in Unlikely Places
There will always be places like these, where we know we can retreat, leaving the world and its noise and chaos far behind--places we can count on to gently and quietly woo our Muse. Yet, there are other places, as well--places that bring the delightful surprise of unexpected inspiration. When we visit such places, we may at first be totally oblivious to the internal transformation that will soon occur as our imaginations are touched by the magic of our surroundings. These places are always a delight to discover. And the key to finding inspiration in unlikely places is to always be open to sensing, learning, growing, and perceiving new things--no matter where we are.
Imaginary Places that Clarify Our Vision
Then, there are those places deep inside us that we can visit when we need instant inspiration. Perhaps we haven’t the time or means to visit our favorite temporal places. Perhaps we’re ill or otherwise unable to travel to those locations--physically, at least. Maybe we’re away from home and from our favorite room, or desk, or special easy chair. Yet, wherever we are, there’s always a place right in the center of our souls where we can go and find the inspiration we need to create. Whether we fancy ourselves in one of the places we love, or create magical new realms in our own minds, we’re free to fly there on the wings of our imaginations and drink in the animating power they bring to our art.
Places, both real and imagined, can inspire us in so many ways! So, whatever your place of inspiration, go there--and drink in the magic!
Inspirationally yours,
Jeanne
Did you enjoy this post? Have any special places of inspiration you'd like to share with us? We'd love to hear about the places that inspire you!
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A Wonderful ProBlogger Idea!
I've just learned from Sharon Hurley Hall, at Get Paid to Write Online, in her post, Appreciating Blogging Writers, that ProBlogger Darren Rowse has proclaimed April 14th, 2008 Blogger Appreciation Day. Read about it in his post, Today is Blogger Appreciation Day [UNOFFICIAL]. Apparently, Darren received three e-mails earlier today thanking him for all he's done for bloggers, and that prompted him to make this pronouncement. What a nice thought!
Darren's Suggestions
Darren recommends that we e-mail bloggers who have inspired, taught, or helped us in other ways and thank them--or better still that we thank them publicly on our blogs. And though April 14th is nearly at an end in Australia (and may even be over already in other parts of the world), it's the thought that counts, and I'd like to thank the following bloggers who have had a profound effect on me and my blogging during my past 15-plus months of blogging:
Joanna Young, at Confident Writing
AmyHuang, at Travel String
Michele Tune, at Writing the Cyber Highway
Raven, at Alaska Chronicle
Sharon Hurley Hall, at Get Paid to Write Online
James Rickard, at Angling Fish
Laura Spencer, at Writing Thoughts
Brad Shorr, at WordSell, Inc.
Liz Strauss, at Successful Blog
Krissy Knox, at Sometimes I Think
Dan, at dcr Blogs
Melissa Garrett, at Lis Garrett ~ Silver-Tongued Writer
Robert Hruzek, at Middle Zone Musings
K-IntheHouse, at ShanKri-la
Tracy, at Movies and Life
Cindy Nichols, at Kaleidoscope
Yvonne Russell, at Grow Your Writing Business
Lillie Ammann, at A Writer's Words, An Editor's Eye
Danielle, The Bipolar Diaries
Robyn, at Brain-Based Biz
Lynn Smythe, at Freelance Online Work
John Hewitt, at Writer's Resource Center
And last, but certainly not least,
Darren Rowse, at ProBlogger
Many thanks, everyone, for all you've done!
Sincerely,
Jeanne
Did you enjoy this post? Even if Blogger Appreciation Day is over, it's never too late to thank a blogger for doing something nice! Who would you like to thank and how?
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Still 10 More Quotes to Round Out the Series
Since we're exploring inspiration this month at Writer's Notes, I though this the perfect time for the third and final installment of my "10 Quotes on Writing" series. Some of the following quotes reveal the ironies of the writing life, some explore its subtleties, and some shout its realities. A few evoke a chuckle, while others make us ponder the mysteries of the writer's creativity.
Whatever responses they may elicit from you, may these quotes from those who've shared your passion for the written word provide the inspiration you need to take your innate talent, hone it to razor sharpness, and use it to cut to the heart of your topic, creating a piece of writing that's not just uniquely you, but also uniquely true. Enjoy!
The Quotes
1. The shelf life of the modern hardback writer is somewhere between the milk and the yogurt. ~ John Mortimer ~
2. Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. ~ Flannery O'Connor ~
3. Really, in the end, the only thing that can make you a writer is the person that you are, the intensity of your feeling, the honesty of your vision, the unsentimental acknowledgment of the endless interest of the life around and within you. Virtually nobody can help you deliberately--many people will help you unintentionally. ~ Santha Rama Rau ~
4. A writer writes not because he is educated but because he is driven by the need to communicate. Behind the need to communicate is the need to share. Behind the need to share is the need to be understood. The writer wants to be understood much more than he wants to be respected or praised or even loved. And that perhaps, is what makes him different from others. ~ Leo Rosten ~
5. What I like in a good author isn't what he says, but what he whispers. ~ Logan Pearsall Smith ~
6. Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for. ~ Socrates ~
7. A writer is dear and necessary for us only in the measure of which he reveals to us the inner workings of his very soul. ~ Count Leo Tolstoy ~
8. I love being a writer, what I can't stand is the paperwork. ~ Peter De Vries ~
9. Good writing is clear thinking made visible. ~ Bill Wheeler ~
10. Writing is thinking on paper. ~ William Zinsser ~
May these words of "writerly" wit and wisdom light the spark of creativity in you!
Literarily yours,
Jeanne
Did you enjoy this post? Were there any quotes you especially liked? Any you disagreed with? Please feel free to share your thoughts! I'd love to hear from you!
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Inspiration: A Mysterious Influence
Inspiration: that powerful yet ethereal quality that’s impossible to adequately define or quantify. Every time we think we’ve grasped it, it flutters away in a totally new direction, leaving us to marvel at its breadth and wonder how we’ve managed to miss this latest nuance.
Inspiration: a concept so difficult to capture in all its splendor that touching on every facet of its subtle yet powerful influence would likely take an eternity, were it possible to achieve at all.
Yet, as elusive and mysterious as the concept is, most writers are intimately acquainted with the reality. Though we may lack the capacity to put its effect into words that adequately capture its meaning, we recognize the potency of the influence it exerts on us in our most creative moments. We realize that, of whatever mysterious substance it may be composed, inspiration is the spark that motivates us, moves us, animates us, as we seek to express our inmost thoughts in words upon a page. Were we to ask 100 writers to define the term, we’d likely get 100 different definitions—and therein lies the magic of inspiration.
A Recently Explored Theme Resurrected in April
During the month of March, Confident Writing coach Joanna Young explored the topic of inspiration. And while I’ve kept up with her wonderful posts as best I could, I haven’t been as involved lately in the Confident Writing conversation as I’d like to be. Due to a hectic writing schedule, I never managed to contribute to the recent “4 x 4” writing project*, which explored the sources of writing inspiration from the point of view of each blogger who entered. Since I’ve been planning for some time now to explore this theme, I think the month of April would be a great time to tackle the topic here at Writer’s Notes.
Inspiration: Where Does It Come From?
I won’t attempt to define inspiration here—though doing so is a wonderful creative exercise that every writer should engage in periodically just to keep the imagination sharp. I’ll discuss, instead, where inspiration comes from—which is right in line with the focus of Joanna’s “4 x 4” writing project (except that I won’t be following the “4 x 4” format).
Today’s post will explore people and some of the ways they can inspire us. In future posts I’ll discuss several other sources of inspiration (in no discernable order of importance) which I’ve found, in my own experience, contribute to a writer’s creativity.
Part 1: People, Positive and Negative
The potential of other people to influence our lives (in both positive and negative ways) is huge. No matter how much importance we assign to it, we could never overestimate the impact that one individual—through example, words, or actions toward us—can have on us as people or on our inner, creative lives. A single person can make an enormous difference in our entire outlook on life. And whether this person affects us in subtle or earth-shaking ways, his or her influence will be reflected in our writing.
Inspiration: A Positive Influence—Even in a Negative Situation
Inspiration is normally thought of as a positive, enlightening influence; and well it should be, because it is—even when it springs from negative or painful experiences, emotions, or interactions. This is because inspiration has the mystical ability to make something ugly, bad, unpleasant, wrong, or deceitful yield something beautiful, good, pleasing, right, and true. It's a bit of a miracle, really. While it may not actually alter the negative situation or person in any way, it changes us and the way we view the unhappy circumstances or unpleasant people that inhabit our lives. It helps us negate their power and weaken their influence, empowering us to move forward, to grow, and to create.
Inspiration is the mysterious power that revolutionizes our outlook, changing our focus from the negative interactions or examples themselves to the positive life lessons and inner transformations we’ve experienced as a result of them. These are rich reservoirs from which to draw meaningful material—and potent catalysts to creative growth.
Creating the Positive from the Negative
We’ve all met or heard of people whose nurturing interactions or uplifting stories have inspired us directly—without the unpleasant need for painfully processing the negative into the positive. And that’s the kind of inspiration on which we thrive. How we love those people! Thankfully, wonderful role models abound, and many of us are fortunate enough to have some of these fantastic people in our own personal spheres. Yet, even in the absence of such positive people, when we face the not-so-happy kind of inspiration with courage, purpose, wisdom, strength, and vision; we develop a balance that infuses us with the spirit of the overcomer. Such inspiration is hard-won but immensely valuable to the writer.
So, if you’ve experienced painful interactions with others—and who hasn’t?—don’t ignore this potentially fruitful path to inspiration, because it offers a rare opportunity to turn a negative into a positive and use it to fuel your creativity. There’s no question that such experiences take time to process…to work through…to begin to see objectively. But the results are always well worth the effort.
People: Choose to Let Them Inspire You!
It may seem as if I’ve dwelt a bit too much on the negative in this post—a rather unconventional practice in discussing inspiration, I think. Yet, the positive people we meet inspire us naturally, with very little effort on our part. It’s the difficult people and the unpleasant situations they create that endanger the health of our Muse—unless we learn to handle them in positive, constructive, and creative ways.
People can be an incredible source of inspiration for us as writers—whether or not they intend to be! The deciding factor is what we choose to do with the ideas and emotions they plant within us. So, choose to be inspired! It will make an incredible difference in your work!
May the people you’ve known and those you’ve known about become a living lesson for you. May they spark the inspiration that enables you to produce works of beauty, nobility, and grace—regardless of who they are or what they’ve done.
To your Muse!
Jeanne
* I'd previously stated in this post that Joanna Young tagged me for this project. She actually didn't. I somehow managed to mix this project up with a meme for which she did recently tag me. Therefore I've corrected that statement.
Did you enjoy this post? Have any ideas about inspiration to share? How have people sparked your creativity as a writer? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
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Age of Conversation: 100+ Authors Write to Raise Funds for Children's Charity
Today's the day to join the concerted effort of a dedicated group of people from all over the blogosphere (and all over the world) to drive last year's Age of Conversation collaborative book project to the top of the Amazon charts! Why? To raise awareness for the soon-to-be-published Age of Conversation 2008 sequel*--and simultaneously raise even more funds for Variety Children's Charity. (All monies raised through the books' sales and referrals go to Variety's Lifeline Children's Project.)
Two Bloggers Take On a Monumental Task
Spearheaded, organized, overseen, and edited by bloggers Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton, the original Age of Conversation “brings together over 100 of the world’s leading marketers, writers, thinkers and creative innovators in a ground-breaking and unusual publication.” If you're interested in good writing, great wisdom on business and life, and helping sick children get well, please join this effort to bring the book the attention it deserves. As mentioned above, no one involved in this project will be making a profit from the book's production and sale: 100% of the proceeds will go to Variety Children's Charity (just as they will with the book's sequel).
Variety Children's Lifeline Program
Here's what Drew had to say about this charity in his Age of Conversation's Gift of Life post last year:
Lifeline's sole mission is providing medical assistance to children with treatable and survivable heart conditions in countries where the appropriate medical facilities, expertise or resources do not exist.
Today's Effort to Launch The Age of Conversation to the Top of the Charts Explained
Today's launch of the Age of Conversation Bum Rush is explained at Chris Wilson's Marketing Fresh Peel blog, in the following two posts: The Launch: The Age of Conversation Bum Rush and The Real Age of Conversation Bum Rush: March 29th. Please drop by and check out these posts. And if you feel this to be a worthy endeavor, consider joining these hard-working authors in helping to make a difference in the lives of sick children around the world by buying your copy of The Age of Conversation and encouraging others you know to do the same.
Please use the following link (or one of the specially designated links at other participating blogs) when purchasing The Age of Conversation. This will ensure that referral monies go to Variety Children's Charity, in addition to book sale proceeds.
Each purchase will only be counted once, regardless of how many books you purchase; so please buy each book separately (Super Saver shipping to the U.S. is free on this item)--and buy it TODAY--to help this charitable project gain greater recognition by rising to the top of the Amazon Best Seller List.
Hope you'll join us!
Jeanne
* While I wasn't among the authors of the original Age of Conversation, I will be on board for The Age of Conversation 2008--along with 274 other dedicated writers and bloggers. (What a wonderful way to use our writing talents--by helping others! I highly recommend it!)
INTERIM PROGRESS REPORT - 6 AM CST, MARCH 29TH: Between 2 pm CST, March 28th and 1:30 am CST, March 29th, the book's ranking rose from #102,282 to #16,879! Way to go, everyone! Further updates will be posted at Marketing Fresh Peel, in Chris's Launch post, and also on Twitter, throughout the day (info in the Launch post).
3:15 pm CST: AOC has jumped to #368! Keep up the good work, everyone!
AOC made it to #262 of all books sold at Amazon.com on March 29th. Not as high as we'd hoped, but not bad, at all! (At one point, it actually hit #33 in the Business/Investing category.) Great work, everyone!
Did you enjoy this post? Have anything to add? Which worthy causes have you loaned your writing talents to, and did you feel as if you'd made a difference?
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Words of Wit and Wisdom from Literary Minds
The following is another collection of writing quotes for us writers to enjoy. They come straight from the minds of a few of the well-known writers who have gone before. Without a doubt, these literary personalities have a great deal of collective knowledge and experience to share with us. So, fellow writers, sit back, read, learn, and enjoy--and perhaps you'll receive a spark of inspiration from their words, as well.
The Quotes
1. A writer and nothing else; a man alone in a room with the English language, trying to get human feelings right. ~ John K. Hutchens ~
2. The greatest part of a writer's time is spent in reading, in order to write; a man will turn over half a library to make one book. ~ Samuel Johnson ~
3. Never write anything that does not give you great pleasure. Emotion is easily transferred from the writer to the reader. ~ Joseph Joubert ~
4. Writing is the incurable itch that possesses many. ~ (Decimus Junius Juvenalis) Juvenal ~
5. The cure for writers cramp is writer's block. ~ Inigo de Leon ~
6. As I take up my pen I feel myself so full, so equal to my subject, and see my book so clearly before me in embryo, I would almost like to try to say it all in a single word. ~ Georg C. Lichtenberg ~
7. Writing crystallizes thought and thought produces action. ~ Paul J. Meyer ~
8. I am always interested in why young people become writers, and from talking with many I have concluded that most do not want to be writers working eight and ten hours a day and accomplishing little; they want to have been writers, garnering the rewards of having completed a best-seller. They aspire to the rewards of writing but not to the travail. ~ James A. Michener ~
9. Writing is the hardest way of earning a living, with the possible exception of wrestling alligators. ~ Olin Miller ~
10. Like stones, words are laborious and unforgiving, and the fitting of them together, like the fitting of stones, demands great patience and strength of purpose and particular skill. ~ Edmund Morrison ~
The Effect of these Quotes on the Writer
Hope these quotes have spoken to you in one way or another. Perhaps they've struck a chord that brought a truth home to you in an especially poignant way. Perhaps you were able to relate a quoted thought to your own experience. Or possibly one of these sayings taught you a truth you never understood before. Even if your only reaction to reading them was a smile, a nod, or a few moments of entertainment, they will have served their purpose.
Yet, the best result that could come from these sayings would be that they send you to your keyboard with a renewed desire...to write!
Happy writing!
Jeanne
Did you enjoy this post? Have any favorite quotes about writing that you'd like to add? We'd love to hear them--as well as your thoughts about these!
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Right, Wrong, and Law
The person who is devoted to doing good, to loving God, and loving people tends to do what’s right naturally. He doesn’t need to be told what to do. He doesn’t need to have the rules and regulations spelled out and placed before him repeatedly. And while he is by no means perfect, and even fails at times, he knows what’s right, and his goal is to do it.
He may occasionally need a little encouragement, a touch of inspiration, or a little reminder now and then—after all, none of us is perfect, yet—but by and large, his actions square with his personal ideals, which tend to mesh with society’s general consensus of good versus evil and of legal versus illegal.
Writing and Its Laws
In a similar sense, the writer who loves words, thoughts, and noble ideas, and is willing to surrender to her creativity and inspiration also tends to almost miraculously fulfill the “laws” of good writing. And while writing is, to a large extent, an intellectual exercise, there’s a sense in which the ability to write in this almost “exalted” manner is a matter of the heart and not the head.
In Writing, as in Law, Heart Can Neither Be Legislated Nor Taught
In the same sense that goodness cannot be legislated, inspiration and creativity cannot be taught. One can study and practice the principles of good writing all he desires; but if he lacks the spark of creativity… inspiration… imagination— of innate talent, if you will— the principles of writing will do him little good. His writing will be cold…dry…clinical—perhaps technically correct, yet lacking in heart.
Heart-Learning, as Opposed to Book-Learning
By the same token, the writer whose talent, creativity, and inspiration come from deep within may not be well-studied in the principles of “good” writing, the nuances of grammar, or the particulars of punctuation; yet he wields his words with power, delivers his message with impact, and wraps the fingers of emotion around the hearts of his readers in ways they couldn’t possibly understand. Like the person who does good without needing to be shown the laws that say he must, this writer is a law unto himself.
While far more could be said on this topic, these are a few of my musings about “the Law” as it applies to writing.
May you always be a law unto yourself when it comes to your writing!
Best wishes,
Jeanne
This post is my entry to the Middle Zone Musings “What I Learned From…the Law” group writing project.
Did you enjoy this post? What are your thoughts on creativity, inspiration, and the "laws" of writing? We'd love to hear them!
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Some Thoughts by Writers on Writing
Perhaps some of these quotes will inspire you. Some may cause you to shake your head. Maybe others will bring a smile to your lips. Some might even make you want to prove the writer wrong. But, whatever else they do, I hope these quotes will get you thinking about the wonderful vocation--or avocation, as the case may be for you--of writing. Hopefully they will plant some ideas that will spring up and bear fruit in your own writing in one way or another.
The Quotes
1. The free-lance writer is a man who is paid per piece or per word or perhaps. ~ Robert Benchley ~
2. To write what is worth publishing, to find honest people to publish it, and get sensible people to read it, are the three great difficulties in being an author. ~ Charles Caleb Colton ~
3. Writing isn't hard. It isn't any harder than ditch-digging.
~ Patrick Dennis ~
4. The writer isn't made in a vacuum. Writers are witnesses. The reason we need writers is because we need witnesses to this terrifying century. ~ E. L. Doctorow ~
5. I never know what I think about something until I read what I've written on it. ~ William Faulkner ~
6. He who does not expect a million readers should not write a line. ~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe ~
7. The writer probably knows what he meant when he wrote a book, but he should immediately forget what he meant when he's written it. ~ William Golding ~
8. A writer should be a joyous optimist. Anything that implies rejection of life is wrong for a writer. ~ George Gribbon ~
9. The characteristic of Chaucer is intensity: of Spencer, remoteness: of Milton elevation and of Shakespeare everything.
~ William Hazlitt ~
10. You must often make erasures if you mean to write what is worthy of being read a second time; and don't labor for the admiration of the crowd, but be content with a few choice readers. ~ Horace ~
Happy contemplating!
Jeanne
Did you enjoy this post? Which of these quotes made you think? Which did you agree with, and which did you disagree with? We'd love to hear your thoughts!
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