Writing Inspiration

Image by Caitlinator

I haven’t made one of these posts in a while, so here’s another snippet of inspiration from my ever-growing pile of notebooks and papers.

Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.
Barbara Kingsolver

This one really resonates with me. Since I started writing first and foremost for me, not for some dream of publication, not because I thought I was writing what people wanted to read, my writing has improved an enormous amount. I still have the dreams of publication, and if I was offered copy writing work where I have to write for a specific audience in a specific tone I’d jump at the opportunity, but when it comes to real creativity, being driven by anything other than my own desire to write has always been a hindrance rather than a help.