Working at Georgia Writers Association for the past two years, there is one common thread woven among writers of all genres - the burning desire to write.
You know a writer when they are never far from a pen..they can write on anything - a napkin, the flip-side of an important document, their hand, any scrap will do. This burning desire is not quenched until they get the words that are rattling around in their heads out and onto something more permanent.
My Executive Director of GWA, Ralph Wilson, advises his students NOT to be writers, it is too hard. He says you should only be a writer unless you cannot help yourself. You will be like a kleptomaniac who cannot help but shop lift or a pyromaniac with a lighter in hand near a pile of hay - ready to burn.
Author Kelly L. Stone, interviewed more than 100 professional writers from across the genres to ask them to spill their writing secrets in Time to Write. (http://www.kellylstone.com/) Stone explains, "Writing is something that they simply have to do, and because of this relentless burn to put their stories on paper, they are motivate to find time to write. Indeed, they are drawn to the written word and they have the constant urge to get their own thoughts into written form. Their burning desire to write causes them to year for writing whenever they aren't doing it and writing is what they want to do most of the time."
Why do writers write? Because they have to - it is like breathing to them. In that I believe it is what they are made to do while on this earth. A writer's message, the voice they have been given at birth, is meant to be written down. That is their purpose. I know personally that I have a book inside, that must be written. I do not have a choice.
As I get older, I wonder if I will get it done before my time on earth is over. I must, it bothers me all the time, but I bury myself in my work, my family, and the ridiculous pace of life we believe as normal. When I am alone, with no other sound but the shower or driving alone in silence, my book inside pops up and nags at my heart - "When are you going to finish me? Are you scared?" I answer to that nag in my head, "Soon..." and "Yes, I am.."
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2 comments:
I have played the violin for 19 years. I’ve played for numerous weddings, funerals, church services, and special events. I began college as a music major, and decided that I loved music too much to make it a career. Don't you think that making writing a career, for someone who loves it, could, over time, cause you to lose your passion for it?
Hello Bethany!
My son is a Junior Music Major in Tennessee and I went to Shorter College with alot of music majors. I saw many music majors lose their passion for music..but not my son. I think it is because he has found his purpose and still has a burning desire to use his music for that purpose.
I am up to my elbows in writers and want to be published people as admin. of Georgia Writers. I get hungry to write what I am passionate about. Now, when I write correspondence for Betty Siegel, no I am not passionate about that, that is her desire, not mine. I get paid to do that - if I didn't know that my writing had a purpose - I would probably tire of it too.
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