Writing as Work

Working at creative writing is a bit like being unemployed...no-one to give you work tasks, no-one to check over the completed product, no pay-packet! At least that's how it feels a lot of the time.
The dream is to write something that so many people love to read that you actually make a decent income from it.
Some smart creative writers manage to combine writing newspaper stories, magazine articles or advertising copy with their passion. It means writing to deadlines about things that may not seem particularly important to the writer, but it does mean some income and the discipline of writing whether you feel like it or not.
For the writer who loves to write, the reward of being published (albeit not in the desired genre) is gratifying and provides opportunities to develop the writing talent beyond its raw state. Nothing helps a writer to improve like real feedback. Writing for others often provides this where writing for oneself often doesn't, or else draws only the encouraging positive words of friends who do not wish to hurt or offend. "The wounds of friends are precious" can certainly be applied here. Discovering a constructive critic among one's friends is like finding gold. Flattery is of absolutely no help to a writer who really wants to be an author.

What Happens When We Choose?

I have come to the conclusion that our experience of life is less to do with what happens to us than with how we CHOOSE to perceive it and what we CHOOSE to do with it. For a long time I was a reactor... I waited till stuff happened and reacted (in fairly predictable ways) accordingly, as though the stuff that happened should have more control over me than I did.  I know that self-control is a very useful virtue, but somehow it didn't seem to apply in those situations, it only seemed relevant to me in terms of what I chose NOT to do.
As I get older however, I realise more and more how active self-control is and how much it has to do with making choices to DO.
I'm choosing to view things differently, less personally and defensively. When stuff happens, I am choosing to look at it as neutral, with the potential to become positive if handled well (recognising that the potential for it all to go pear-shaped is still there too).
Looking back, most of us would say that many of the most awful circumstances have been doorways to fresh opportunities. Remembering that and pressing through the immediate thunder-cloud to look for the silver-lining are high on my list of what to choose.

What to do with Dry Spots

Creativity can be a little capricious at times and inspiration is not always available on demand. However, the worst thing to do when the creative juices stop flowing is to stop creating. It's all a bit of a chicken and egg thing...to be honest I didn't much feel like blogging today. I didn't think I had anything to write, or that I was 'in the flow'. However, letting the day pass with nothing written would feed my inertia, while forcing myself to write regardless, feeds my creativity. The more I write, the more I feel like writing and the more naturally and quickly I tap into the flow of inspiration. It is exactly like anything else in life, natural inclination alone will not provide the discipline or backbone to press on when things are going badly. Making a clear choice and sticking with it carries one through despite the struggles. (Every wedding is followed by a marriage!)

Having been suicidal as a teenager, I know the appeal of the desire to just give up. It just looks so much easier. But my perspective as an adult with a fulfilling and happy family life is entirely different. Had I given in to the desire to end my physical life, I may have missed a number of painful experiences, but I would also have denied myself the many joys and pleasures which far outweigh them.

Suicide is an extreme example of giving up, but we can commit spiritual, emotional, mental or artistic suicide by giving up any one of those aspects of who we are when they become difficult or challenging. It is always a mistake to give up a facet of what makes us human. It is always a good choice to push through the trials into a new place where those things can be seen from a different angle.

We were created to be creative and we have been gifted the privilege of working to bring our creations into being. The work is important, the discipline is important and the character they both help us to develop is even more important.

The Ring of Truth

A writer who hopes to connect with the reader, must write in a believable way. No matter how fantastic the location, situation or characters, there must be a core sense that the character may actually have felt, spoken or acted in the way described. A book of any sort that achieves credibility in this way has a 'ring of truth'. The settings and situations may be unfamiliar, but there is an understanding of the character's thinking and motivation because they resonate with the reader as essentially true.
What gives the ring of truth is the essential shared experience of being human, knowing people like that, being people like that. From the time I was a child I noticed 2 things about people: everyone is unique; and everyone is the same. At 16 I expressed it this way:

People

We all believe we feel

Unlike any other

We think we are the only one

Searching for true brothers

We know that no-one understands….

At least we all suppose that

But each think of life, of death and beyond

We love, we hate, we carry on

We face the inner struggles of our own morality

We face the outer world of our own making

And we see

The struggles of the others going on in other places

They stare back at us

But look they have our faces

What Inspires a Writer?

Inspiration comes in many guises. Sometimes it is a comment overheard, sometimes a new perspective, a news item or a train of thought in the back of the mind that for some reason comes to the fore. To follow through on the inspiration and write, though, it must be sufficiently impressive to motivate action. Often it is about carrying on a dialogue with the reader that the writer feels is worth the time and effort to focus on and refine.
Inspiration often includes a humorous element, since humor is so universal and such a common mechanism of dealing with difficult, unfamiliar and even tragic events. Humor helps us to keep our emotional balance and keeps us moving forward when retreat is the preferred option.
For me writing is largely about exploring Truth. Although in the 21st Century, truth is often considered a malleable, relative and uncertain term, I firmly believe that the Truth worth knowing is immutable and absolute, but also knowable.
I also believe that within the human heart is a hunger for this absolute Truth, something that transcends reality and objectivity and calls each of us to be inspired.
The creative urge is in all of us, some may express this in practical ways, building, sculpting, gardening, painting, acting, etc while others use words spoken or written to produce some 'new thing'. All of these creative urges constitute inspiration and are an attempt at connection with the Absolute, with others and with the inner workings of the inspired mind.

Writing for Writing's Sake

I often think that I write because I must write. In some ways the process of expressing thoughts, emotions, ideas and conflicts through the written word is a means of really hearing my own internal cogitations, and the arguments I might have had with people (if only I had thought fast enough to answer as I wished) and dealing with them in a reasoned way. It is both a safety valve and a means of clearing up the sometimes murky mixture of thoughts, opinions and questions floating around inside. Once a fear is written down,  it loses its fearfulness, once an argument is placed in the context of a conversation between two characters, their viewpoints are easier to understand. This of course is a selfish motivation for writing and entirely for the benefit of the author. It is also a reason to remain unpublished.
To take the leap out into the public arena, there must be a motivation beyond self, a sense of connection and shared experience. The purpose for publishing a piece of writing is beyond writing for self's sake or even writing's sake, it is all about others.