Today’s scheduled topic has been canceled. I realized half-way through writing a brilliant and insightful entry, that my basis was wrong. You see, the entire thing was built on a single joke. Unfortunately, the joke was based on misinformation and therefore not as hilarious as I envisioned. So now I am left to wing a newer, more brilliant, and more insightful entry.
My home town was recently blessed with a deluge of snowfall (as, I’m sure, many of your towns were). Thanks to this, I received three days off of work and I took an extra personal day to finish up the week. I think it goes without saying that I loved being away from the office for the better part of a week.
My week off allowed me to take some extra time for writing. Actually, re-writing as I am trying to finish up my novel for an early summer release. I’ve been creating stories for a little over ten years now, all under the same banner. Now that I have a release deadline and publishing goal, I have become a bit more reflective on my work. Unlike my “real world” job, the idea that my writings may never make it into a reader’s hands doesn’t really bother me. The thought that the hours I spend in front of my computer may never amount to anything anyone in the world cares about doesn’t give me pause. I am compelled to create. More specifically, I am compelled to create something I want to read… something that has value to me.
I have scribbled down countless* notes for screenplays, graphic novels, or “real” novels that would likely be much more successful concepts than that which I choose to write. My head is constantly spewing out ideas for shorts, parodies, and sketches, but they mean nothing. Sure, they might be entertaining, but they lack anything beyond a clever idea or few chuckles (yeah… chuckles). I don’t believe that I have ever finished a screenplay started simply because I thought it would be a great movie. Even when my writers’ group enjoyed the concepts and encouraged me to continue, I never did. My heart just wasn’t in it.
The stories I choose to write must be poured from me lest they bubble over. I have never made a dime for my writing, and I will continue to write even if I never do.
3 comments:
"The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanely sensitive. To them... a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create -- so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, their very breath is cut off... They must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency they are not really alive unless they are creating."
I don't know who the author is, but I love this quote. Your entry reminded me of it and I thought you'd like it too.
Love it!
Awesome quote Kristen. Dallas, way to inspire a generation. Or at least a peer.
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