Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Go Read This . . .

"To be a writer is to sit down at one's desk in the chill portion of every day, and to write; not waiting for the little jet of the blue flame of genius to start from the breastbone - just plain going at it, in pain and delight. To be a writer is to throw away a great deal, not to be satisfied, to type again, and then again, and once more, and over and over...." 
- John Hersey 

Valerie Geary  of
Something to Write About

My fabulous critique partner, Valerie Geary, had THIS beautiful post on her blog yesterday. It resonated with me in a powerful way, as I'm sure it did with every writer who visited. It's a post of such powerful TRUTH that I feel compelled to share it.

Rather than take up your time here today, I ask you to go visit Valerie and read her post in its entirety. To pique your interest, though, here is a snippet of what you'll find there:
I wanted my love for writing to be simple again. For it to be about nothing more difficult than creating and trying to find beauty amid this chaos we call life. But in order to do that, I needed to let go of my inhibitions and start trusting myself again. I needed to stop rushing headlong towards my what-if future and start living in my present.         

So I shelved my fifth manuscript and started a new one, number six, and was delighted to find it felt nothing like giving up.

In fact, quite the opposite: it felt like ropes slipping free, like running full-tilt down a steep hill, like swimming in a snow-cold stream. It felt very much like freedom.

And I realized then that letting go is not equivalent to giving up and in the letting go there is opportunity for rediscovery, for finding beauty and joy and truths unexpected. 

Go. Read. Enjoy!  
 

19 comments:

S.A. Larsenッ said...

The passion of a writer captured beautifully...

I find when I keep my eye on writing, just writing because it's what I love to do, that's when I write a piece with meaning and heart. :)

Maeve Frazier said...

I agree with salarsen! I'll have to check out the rest of the post. Inspiration here for all of us!

Natalie Aguirre said...

Thanks for sharing this. It was very inspiring and reminds me that I need to get back to the joy of writing.

Charmaine Clancy said...

Amazing and beautiful attitude!
Can't wait to hear what you're writing :)
Wagging Tales - Blog for Writers

Unknown said...

First off I adored today's quote! Second off I don't know how I wasn't following her before but I'm so glad you shared it with us! Her writing is so whimsical! I'm headed over now!

Lenasledgeblog.com said...

Thanks for sharing. I love writing. I often write best under pressure. But I have to remind myself that I can't always wait for the pressure to build, I need to train myself to sit down and just start writing.

Ishta Mercurio said...

THANK YOU! This is exactly what I needed to hear this morning.

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

How lovely! I'll go read the rest.

cleemckenzie said...

Well said. Moving on is indeed much different than giving up.

Robyn Campbell said...

Absolutely lovely, bff. Heading over.

Patti said...

I loved that quote, especially the line about pain and delight. Doesn't that just describe it perfectly.

Heather said...

Sounds like the beginning to a very beautiful and inspiring post. I'm off to read it all!

Gail Shepherd said...

Thanks for this link: I'm experiencing something very similar starting on my second novel.

Bish Denham said...

Yep, often times letting go is the only way of gaining something new.

Shelley Sly said...

Thank you for pointing me in the direction of her post. Checking it out now...

P.S. I've missed your blog, Shannon! Glad to have time to visit again! :)

Susan Kaye Quinn said...

Sounds lovely and awesome! I will check it out ... :)

Joanne R. Fritz said...

Thanks for the heads-up, Shannon!

Jemi Fraser said...

Sounds like an attitude that will bring joy and all kinds of awesome! :)

Stephanie Thornton said...

I love Valerie's blog, but I missed that post. Thanks for sharing it--I think that's something all of us could stand to remember once in a while.

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