"Trial and error." "Learn from your mistakes." These sayings have a lot to do with honing our craft as writers. Sometimes the only way to learn is to delve in, do our best, screw up, work overtime to correct those errors only to eventually throw the entire project away and start over. Painful! But through it all, we LEARN.A friend of mine through ANWA shared the following inspirational video, and I believe it applies.
In a talk titled Happiness, Your Heritage ,President Dieter F. Uchtdorf of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints speaks about how the process of creating something makes us happy:
"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before...Don't let fear or failure discourage you. Don't let the voice of critics paralyze you-whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside."
I suppose this is why I love writing so much; I love to create a story that didn't exist before. Bringing ourselves-our experiences, original thoughts and feelings-into our stories is what makes them original afterall. Everyone has a story to tell.
So don't let critics get you down. Don't let yourself get you down. Dig deep, set the creative side of your brain free and create a story that is uniquely your own. And DON'T GIVE UP!
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Thanks for that today Lo. I really needed that pep talk! It is my nature to constantly think what I do is not good enough and this has held me back in the past. I think sometimes our internal critic is the harshest of all and sometimes we just need to gag it!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad! And yes, our internal critic can be the harshest. Thanks for the comment!
DeleteThat talk by Elder Uchtdorf is the reason I didn't quit writing three years ago. Thanks for the reminder. There is something truly special about creating something out of nothing. Plus...it's pretty fun. :)
ReplyDeleteAmazing talk indeed! Truly inspirational for anyone, especially writers :) Thanks, Rebecca!
DeleteGreat post, Laura. And I love that quote by Elder Uchtdorf! Thanks for joining us at ANWA. It was loads of fun meeting you.
ReplyDeleteSo good to meet you too, Betsy! Thanks for showing me the YouTube video!
DeleteI love that quote by President Uchtdorf also! It is so amazing that we are able to tell the stories in our heads. Thanks for the great post,
ReplyDeleteCami
This is a really great post! I like your blog!
ReplyDeletewww.modernworld4.blogspot.com
Hey Lo, I tagged you for a meme on my blog :)
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