For the longest time, I thought I could only write when I was ‘inspired’. Maybe I watched an episode of a TV show, or read a book that really motivated me to write something awesome. I’d sit down to write, and the words would just flow, like a river. I’d sit on my boat and pluck the rocks and shells from the water, and mold a mosaic.

Then I started reading your blog, and I realised that I’d have to write even when I’m sure the words won’t flow, and even when I sit down to write and find out that the won’t. 95 percent of the time, it’s like rowing from island to island on a vast ocean, scavenging the few rocks and shells from each beach. It’s harder and a lot more scary, but just as rewarding; if not more for making something great despite my fears.

I’ve got a silly view towards my own writing; I’m always terrified to write if I’m not totally motivated or totally sure that it’s going to turn out fine. This is substantiated by other aspects of my life, but not with writing. When I create, when I take a chance and go outside my comfort zone my writing is so much better then if I’d just played it safe.

So I guess that mainly writing to me is a chance to grow, to improve myself in not just my writing ability, but who I am as a person. It’s also simply that as an artist, I like to create. The creative process, the final masterpiece, and the praise it gets; I revel in it all. Though of course, my writing is mostly for me, so my estimation of how good it is depends far more on my opinion then my fans (though they certainly count too!).

Writing holds great power for me; it’s an important part of who I am, and I firmly believe that it’s real. Philosophically, it’s hard to arbitrarily decide what’s real and what’s not anyway.

for me, my whole life, the object on which I sit is a chair. Locked firm in my brain from the time I first started speaking, then reading and finally writing: I sit on a chair.

For my children, there is a completely different reality. They have all grown up speaking at least two languages. For them – that object is called a chair in English, ein Stuhl in German, un chaise in French and I don’t know what in Latin, Spanish or the other misc languages that might float around the house on any given day.

An object and its name are not a single entity in their world. They distinguish between concepts and objects, labeling each according to the language and vocabulary of the moment.

Perhaps we should just follow the instructions from Humpty Dumpty –

‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.’

I paid SUPER attention to a woman’s nails the other day. Her cuticles were worn and “fraying” and her nails were black and blue (like she’d hit them with a hammer). Got me going on some wonderful tangents in my mind.

To find out, she is a farrier. Huh. Go figure. And THAT was fascinating to discuss.

Doing the writing is a powerful expierence because you get to explore and play. You get to actually change your perspective, which you can’t do in real life. The act of writing is the experience. No one that is not a writer can understand.