Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Love What You Do and Write

This is a reconstruction, rather than a deconstruction, of one piece of advice. When we are passionate about what we write, then the urge to create flows.

The moment we lose sight of why writing draws us in day after day and year after year, when it becomes a drudge instead of a joy, this calling becomes just another job. This can happen if we depend on others to define what writing means to us as individuals.

For instance, it may be grief that drives you to write, or peace that feeds the muse. The wide array of emotions and how we perceive them are the driving factors and motivators in creation.

E. Paul Torrance talks about loving what you do in his 1995 paper, "Insights About Creativity: Questioned, Rejected, Ridiculed, Ignored." As the title spells out, he is one writer and researcher who continues to push forward because he must:
 "Very early in my attempts to understand what made for creative achievement, I developed the insight that being in love with what you are doing was very important in creative achievement. I began collecting data that would enable me to find out."
In all fields, we have amazing discoveries because inventors, writers, artists, researchers and others loved what they were doing. Ultimately, being a writer should make you feel good about yourself and everything you accomplish, large and small.

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