Please give a warm welcome to fellow pirate Steven Southard . You can catch him over at his blog, here, where he has been kind enough to interview several of his fellow authors (including me! )
Thanks, Wynelda, for this opportunity. In one of your blog posts [April 21, 2014], you explained why you write, and I liked the part where you said you write because you “have to. A compulsion, a spilling forth of part of your soul…” I’d like to extend that further.
My theory is that everyone, everybody (yes, I’m looking at you, Reader!) has a similar, soul-born compulsion. Not necessarily the compulsion to grab a keyboard and pound out a novel, but an inner drive to create something.
For some of you, it’s a story; we humans love stories. For others it’s an abstract thought, an idea. Whichever it is, you then turn to the problem of expression, of conveying that inner notion to others. Some turn to sculpture or painting. Others turn to music or dance. A few turn to writing. There are many creative outlets and each of you finds one to try.
Your first attempts are earnest, fueled by that soul-spark, but also a bit tentative and maybe even playful.
Then the problem starts. You get partway done, or maybe all finished, and you gaze at what you’ve made. You hate it. The real-life creation is nothing like you imagined. It’s crap. You know others would hate it too.
Moment of Truth time. What are you going to do now? Will you conclude, as with a thousand other failures in your life, you gave it a try, but you’re obviously no good at this?
Or will your inner fire find a voice that pushes through your feelings of inadequacy and disappointment? That voice might say, “I’m still here, deep inside. I’m not going anywhere, so you’re going to have to deal with me. Either put in more practice at what you’re doing, or find some other creative outlet, ‘cause I’m here to stay, and I’m going to shout even louder from now on.”
What will you do in your moment of truth? The world is out here hoping you’ll listen to your soul.
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