#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
