The Writing-Reading Road
What is it you wish to say in your writing or your art? Is there a message or a feeling or an experience you hope to portray? And if so, why? What moves you the most in books that you read or art that you see? Is it the underlying message, an emotion you feel or recognize while reading, or an experience that seems familiar or foreign? What moves you? I suspect if you ask ten people that question, you'll get ten different answers. In fact, I'd probably give you a different answer at different times too. Sometimes I read to escape. Other times it's to see my own experiences mirrored on the page so I feel less alone with them. One day I might want to read about places I've never visited. Another day I might really need to read about a place or time that's familiar and comforting. The same is true of my writing.
When life is feeling intense I might want to write those emotions into a story, or instead I might want to write about something lighthearted and silly. The purpose and methods may change. But what stays the same is the desire to write, to heal myself through writing.
Like many writers, I adore the process. For me, writing a first draft is thrilling and scary. It's an adventure like no other, a wild ride in the dark. And I adore it. Revising can seem more like a dental visit. But there are times when even the revising becomes a pleasure (especially when I have to add a new scene because then it feels like a first draft again ;) ).
I feel incredibly lucky to be fortunate enough to spend many of my days devoted to my art, my craft, the thing I love doing. And I hope that what comes through in the writing might provide readers with an experience that is new or familiar, an opportunity to escape or reflect, to feel or to grow or to think about something in a new way. I long for those experiences both when I read and when I write. The very best I hope for is to be moved by the writing experience, for that movement or growth to transfer to the page, and then for it to be shared with those who read the work. That's the part of the writing-reading journey I love best.
When life is feeling intense I might want to write those emotions into a story, or instead I might want to write about something lighthearted and silly. The purpose and methods may change. But what stays the same is the desire to write, to heal myself through writing.
Like many writers, I adore the process. For me, writing a first draft is thrilling and scary. It's an adventure like no other, a wild ride in the dark. And I adore it. Revising can seem more like a dental visit. But there are times when even the revising becomes a pleasure (especially when I have to add a new scene because then it feels like a first draft again ;) ).
I feel incredibly lucky to be fortunate enough to spend many of my days devoted to my art, my craft, the thing I love doing. And I hope that what comes through in the writing might provide readers with an experience that is new or familiar, an opportunity to escape or reflect, to feel or to grow or to think about something in a new way. I long for those experiences both when I read and when I write. The very best I hope for is to be moved by the writing experience, for that movement or growth to transfer to the page, and then for it to be shared with those who read the work. That's the part of the writing-reading journey I love best.