Tag Archives: passion

Morning Pages Entry – June 13, 2014

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Write for love. Of all the platitudes and motivational phrases and thoughts that have crossed my mind over the last few months, I believe, that’s the one that matters the most. The most meaningful, and the only one that will really work for me. Don’t write for money, don’t write from fear, don’t write to be cool, don’t write because you think people will like you more as a writer. Don’t write for any other reason then love … the actual love of writing. If you write simply for the love of it, then everything else will flow from that. You will enjoy the process more. You will feel happier both during and after the act of writing. Do something you love and for love, and you will be happier. Don’t force it … do it out of love for the craft, and love for the act of it. It will be both cathartic and fufilling at the same time. I liked the Jim Carey graduation speech I watched yesterday, where he talked about how he said, his father could have been a great comedian, but he never believed that doing that would have been possible for him. So, he took the safe route, and became an accountant. At one point in their life his father lost his job, and his family ended up living in their car. He said of all the lessons his father taught him, losing his safe job taught him, how easy it was to fail at a career you didn’t really care about, so why not take a chance at something you love. And, he became a comic. The point was, do what you love, and do it for the love of it. Nothing else. You are happier, when you write, and when you create. It’s the process that matters. You’ve already proven, that you can be successful and unsuccessful at doing something you don’t like. You know that. Now, it’s time to prove that you can do something because you love it. Don’t let all those things that clutter your mind of inconsequential value to stop you. Don’t give in to resistance. Be more true to yourself, and what you need. You’ll eventually be really good at it. You know that. There’s nothing you’ve done in your life, that you haven’t gotten good at. Whether it be drumming, or computer programming, or squash, or cooking, or soon to be writing. Be in that moment when you write. Remember the feeling just this past weekend, when you went to Brock, and wandered the halls there, and felt at peace. It was a place that seemed to clear your mind, and you were truly happy. None of the clutter and concern that goes with your regular life found their way to bother you there. And, being around an instutition, that is all about learning and all about the future, and all about endless possibilities … all of that coupled with a worry free mind made you think of the possibilities of creative writing. I love to learn new things, even to this day. Being around universities, or being around libraries, or the thought of always learning new things, brings joy to my heart. There’s just so many new and old and interesting things out there that you can learn about. And, at the heart of it all, they’re all just stories. And, writing is about telling stories. It’s the perfect storm of happiness for you. It’s drawing all those things you love into one intense circle of happiness … creating, writing, and learning. Do those things and the rest of it will all fall in place for you, however it’s meant to fall. Don’t worry so much about others, and how they do it. Be creative, learn new things, don’t feel guilty for doing what you love, and doing it for love. Love of the act, and love of how it makes you feel, and most of all, be happy doing it. Be happy in the moment of doing it. Wherever you are. It doesn’t matter where, even though some places maybe easier to do it in, train your mind, be disciplined, and make a new paradigm for yourself. Write for love, and be what you love. Throw away the anger around you, and keep out the anger of others around you. That’s the way to approach all this. It’s the only way, I think that will work. Will work for me. Do it for the love.

TIGERBLOOD: yea DAILYMOOD: good, distracted LOCATION: home office WORDSWRITTEN: none PUSHUPS: 3:00 wall sits TODO: write, covers TV: orphan black, poetry of Sylvia Plath, Mental Toughness for Writers – Joanna Penn BOOK: it starts with food, bird by bird GAME: 2048 EXERCISE: none WEIGHT: 170 BREAKFAST: bacon & eggs & tomato LUNCH: big ass salad DINNER: porkchops, asparagus SNACKS: grapes, apple ALCOHOL: none BEDTIME: 11:00 AWAKE: 6:00

Morning Pages Entry – June 06, 2014

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Sometimes, I think that being less serious and just proceeding with the task at had would be a real advantage. Right now, I seem so unfocused and worried about how good the writing will be, that I’m not getting anywhere with it at all. I haven’t added nearly enough as I had hoped in terms of word count to my existing novel, and it goes to the editor on Monday. Today is Friday, and I’m stuck going to another useless swim meet for Samantha and Jessica. And, we have to go today as Sam swims in the evening session. And, I have to deal with all those food shit for the whole30 thing that we are doing. It’s a serious pain in the ass, and it’s sucking up too much of my time. I need for my writing to me like oxygen. I need for it to be something I want to do more then anything. Right now, I’m scared of it. I’ve got to stop being scared of it, and just embrace it, like it’s a long lost friend. Just do the work, and make the stuff up. Make things happen, do the outlines, fill in the blanks, and write the gory details. How many times do I have to have these kinds of conversations with myself? I want so much for the first books to be out there, that it’s driving me crazy. I need to burst that bubble and make things start to happen. I need a little bit of that pressure from readers to entice me into writing more often. Other authors talk about how having excited readers motivates them. I’m really tired, of reading about the success of others, knowing I’m so close to putting something out there, and not having any of that success. I need to make this happen. It’s important to me. But, don’t make that importance so big, that it gets the better of you. You want this to be something you enjoy doing, and I think you can get there, a little bit at a time. So write, and write, and write. Stop worrying about it being perfect. Just do the best you can and move forward. If you don’t get the stuff out there, then you’ll never know what it could have been. The rewards are huge, and the potential is there. You just need to stop being so scared of it, and don’t worry about perfection. You’ll never achieve it … you can get closer to it, but that’s all about the journey. Trying and trying and trying … therein lies the challenge. You have total control over everything. That’s the beauty of the whole thing. Relax, and have fun with it. It’s better then anything else you can do right now. Better than reading, better than movies, better than games. It’s your own world. Go and create it. Inhabit it. Make it beautiful, and make it ugly … make it everywhere you want to go, and all the things you want to run away from. Pour yourself into it, and if you do that enough times, people will be drawn to it … it’s inevitable. People are drawn to passionate creations, especially readers. It’s what the human condition is all about. So, just be true to that, and spill your guts all over the keyboard as your writing, and it will lead you places you never dreamed you could go. Not just materialistically, but spiritually as well. Throw your self onto the page (screen?), and see what the rest of the world does. Some will stomp all over it, others will sing your praises. None of which really matters, as the writing is an exercise in and of itself. It is self expression, and creation at it’s purest. It’s the only real reason for being alive, and the one place, that you can never run out of elixir. Let it fuel you … let it make you a better person … let it fill you with hope and fear and wanting for more. What else can give you that sort of payback. It will fill your soul and your bank account. It’s what you need to be a more complete person. It’s what you’ve always needed, and the time has never been more right for someone like you to make that mark. Turn aside the spectors of fear that haunt, they have no place in your mind, and fill yourself up with what you need. Do the work … be the work, and live.

TIGERBLOOD: yep sure DAILYMOOD: hisitant LOCATION: home office WORDSWRITTEN: none PUSHUPS: 4:00 plank TODO: write, drive, cook, swim meet TV: Dear Mr. Waterson, Prophets of Science Fiction, Writers Room BOOK: It Starts With Food GAME: 2048 EXERCISE: none WEIGHT: 169 BREAKFAST: bacon & eggs LUNCH: big ass salad DINNER: salmon patty, sweet potato SNACKS: grapes, cashews, 1 bite of pork ALCOHOL: none BEDTIME: 12:00 AWAKE: 6:45