Write to be yourself.
Sometimes, it’s hard to know what to say.
When you make a living on words, writing for yourself can start to get…tricky.
I write for work—trying to say what others need but in a way that is engaging and imaginative and true.
I write for an online magazine with a deadline and a theme.
And, each day, around 7 pm, I sit to write 500 words of my latest manuscript. 500 words just for me. That project, in all its imperfection, is a recurring struggle.
Some days, the words flow easy. Other days, they’re a cumbersome heap of garbage.
There’s no telling if that manuscript will ever find a home on a bookseller’s shelf; but it’s mine to write nonetheless.
As my days close and I turn off my desk lamp and blow out my writing candle, I notice the knots in my shoulders have started to tighten. There’s a whirring hum to my thoughts as I exit my writing room and let myself wonder about greatness.
I think every creative begins by finding beauty in the work of other authors and thinkers and activists whom the world calls great…
Most of us face an automatic thought, “that will never be me”, but many of us also experience the longing to create something that matters. I’ve been thinking about the ways in which we often won’t engage our art, because we’ve recognized that it will most likely never be “great.” Have you ever struggled to justify an afternoon spent on a creative project because the project has no set purpose or obvious platform for sharing widely?
I don’t want to rely on a platform or a following or a publisher to affirm that my story matters. I don’t want to create for influence; I want to create because it makes my life more vibrant and enjoyable.
I want to live and write the same way regardless of how many people notice.
That’s a bit of what this site is for me: a place for me to share work and talk honestly about creating and a touchstone for other creatives to remember: your art matters because it’s yours. To create makes us better people, and there’s no need to justify it beyond that.
