The Best Part of Being a Writer

#2017-0414A

Last year I received an email from Creative Writing Now which I thought was so important to me that I made a copy of it and "kept" it in my personal blog: see "Writing Goals" (posted on January 6, 2016).

Just now I received another email from them, which deserves my special attention and I would like to keep it in my blog as a reminder for myself. Perhaps you'll be interested in reading it, too. "What's the best part of being a writer?" -- To answer this question, the email reads:

Hello,

What's the best part of being a writer?

When successful authors talk about their favorite part, it's often not fame or literary recognition...

It's not getting the book contracts...

It's not winning the awards...

It's actual writing.  The sheer pleasure of daydreaming stories, of playing with words on the page, of creating something new.

Whatever you hope to achieve as a writer, remember not to focus so much on your goals that you forget to enjoy the writing itself.

To inspire you, here are some quotes from successful authors about the joy of writing.

"There's nothing wrong with delighting in what you do. In fact, most of the fun you'll have as a poet will come about during the process of writing."
- Ted Kooser

"It's the writing, not the being read, that excites me. Joy is in the doing."
- Virginia Woolf

"A novel is a daily labor over a period of years. A novel is a job. But a story can be like a mad, lovely visitor, with whom you spend a rather exciting weekend."
- Lorrie Moore

"Self-discipline is necessary, but so is playfulness, flexibility, joy. When you stop demanding perfection of yourself, your writing desk will become a spacious place."
- Karen Russell

"Writing is not life, but I think that sometimes it can be a way back to life."
- Stephen King

"In my later years I have looked in the mirror each day and found a happy person staring back. Occasionally I wonder why I can be so happy. The answer is that every day of my life I've worked only for myself and for the joy that comes from writing and creating. "
- Ray Bradbury

"Writing has so much to give, so much to teach, so many surprises. That thing you had to force yourself to do---the actual act of writing -- turns out to be the best part. It's like discovering that while you thought you needed the tea ceremony for the caffeine, what you really needed was the tea ceremony. The act of writing turns out to be its own reward."
- Anne Lamott

Happy writing,

Nancy

Creative Writing Now
http://www.creative-writing-now.com

CWN Writer's Shop
http://www.creative-writing-now.com/creative-writing-books.html