Writing is best treated as a lifelong commitment if you are serious about it. Life goes on whether you like it or not, constantly moving into the future. So, you might as well do something that fuels your soul, and a lifelong commitment can’t be measured by single achievements. Like all art forms, there are the highs and lows, forwards and backwards, making the journey one hell of an adventure. Those that stick with it will have a whole lifetime of experience, knowledge, and work to show for it, for art takes you places that nothing else can. Embracing a craft challenges you mentally, and you’ll always be learning, forever keeping you young.
Welcome to another edition of Unprocessed Thoughts
How’s that for a heavy intro? Sometimes the Unprocessed Thoughts are, and other times they’re not. For this month, reflecting on the writing craft – and my life – has taken a lot of my time. This is for a good reason. It would be far too long of a post to elaborate. Let’s see if I can pull it all off in a couple of years.
We all write for different purposes, for there are many types of writing. For fiction, people speak of a muse – the one that guides them into the words. The muse is not bound by time; it speaks when it decides. Others talk about maintaining as a creative professional, which means deadlines and getting those words onto the page one way or another.
To break it down in simple terms: do you write for fame or fortune? It’s a tricky thing to decide for any creative professional. What do you do with your art? Here’s something to ask yourself, “how badly do you want it?” In terms of writing, do you want to be a full-time writer, or do you wish to craft stories on your time? Are you writing for just you, or do you want people to read it? How many people? Would you be happy with a thousand or a million?
Ask yourself if you enjoy what you do continually every day, or is it a means to an end? For example, schooling has an end goal to gain a skill. Knowing what you want is tricky to answer, and sometimes you don’t know until you try. The road is never paved with a clear path, and you don’t know where it will take until you start crawling, walking, and finally running.
Like my graphic design skill, writing allows seeing the world from new lenses. Design can show you new industries and learn new operational processes. Writing introduces you to exciting people and research. Luckily, I’ve been able to marry the two halves of me with the transmedia storytelling. Like most, writing hasn’t been a straight line for me. Yet, for some reason, we’re always drawn back into it. There’s something that pulls us in to keep sharing stories. I’ve got the itch that won’t go away, and I’m excited to see where writing will guide me.
Here in Alberta, we’re pretty lucky with the pandemic emergencies coming to a close, and some normality is returning. Summer is here, and we can enjoy the sun before another icy winter. As always, summer is a great time to unwind, reflect, and absorb the world around us. Life goes on, and we can choose how we want our craft to shape our lives. It won’t be clear exactly how it will shape it, but keep on writing. I, for one, have a vision where I’d like it to take me in the very near future. I have a lot of work ahead of me to achieve it. With any career choice, you will be faced with work. There are no ifs, and, or buts about it. It is work. It’s time to ask myself, how badly do I want it?
Beer Note: Grizzly Paw Brewing Company Lawn Chair Lager
For this month, in the blazing heat, I tried a lager. We have severe health warnings about the temperatures, and I wanted an easy drink. This is precisely that quenched the thirst while sitting under the shade.
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