Writer Philosophy: Artist’s Disposition
By LMReviews on Oct 28, 2008 in Multicultural Writing, Writing/Freelancing
As my writing career has started to evolve, I’ve had to examine why I write. It is simple to say I write because I have to or it’s like breathing — if I don’t I’d die inside. Yes, those explanations are severely dramatic although they may be very true emotionally speaking.
I started out writing poetry and often thought I had to be depressed or at the very least emotionally stuck in order to craft my most heart-twisting or inspirational verses. I didn’t want to write that way, but I found it to be so effortless when I did. Writing novels regardless of my mood was far more difficult. Also, I truly enjoy immediate gratification. The shorter pieces obviously play into that.
When I decided to write Mismatched, I had not read a romance novel since Frances Pascal’s Sweet Valley high and I only read a few others while I wrote the novel. Truth be told I’ve only read maybe five others during the writing of Mismatched. I am still a babe in the forest of romances novels but I am learning my likes and dislikes and learning how to make my writing stronger.
If you treat writing like the craft it is, you don’t have to associate certain emotional states to get it done. Also, instead of focusing on the feelings that lead you to write, I’ve found it much better to focus on the feels that erupt when I write. There’s no reason to be that stereotypical moody, brooding artist who wastes away at the computer, the canvas or the potter’s wheel agonizing over the elusive perfect product.
RWA had an excellent article in their Romance Writers Report about depression and writing. For many there is an association there and that article showed me that I was not alone. I am so grateful that I learned to focus on what the writing provides for me emotionally instead of the emotional state I thought was required to write in the first place. There is no emotional state required; I just do it because it is who I am.
