The Take-Away

Nathan Bransford once asked on his blog, "Why do you write?" And I'm not sure if I realized it at the time, but I now recognize that question as the positive other-side to the all-too-noticeable voice of temptation, Why don't you just quit?

I have a document on my computer, and a folder on Evernote, filled with writer quotes that ring true for me. And I fill it with my own personal rules too. Things like, but not exactly - because this folder is just for me - I won't follow trends, I'll write for the love of it, No unnecessary cussing. (Remember these are variations on what I really have in there.)

Well if, and I'm not saying I did, but if I'd been recently struggling to find the courage to develop yet another story, The Golden Globes went a long way toward the effort. Because where you might see a really long commercial for current releases and several DVDs or perhaps a mutual congratulations club among a group of people who take themselves way too seriously as often as they laugh, I see the inspiration to work hard at this thing called art, to believe in what you do, to do what you love, and to say something now and then - something that will last or at least for a moment, matter.

When Nathan Bransford asked, I chose from his multiple choice that I wrote to change the world. But I wouldn't say that now. It's more like I write to take the good things in the world and make sure you know they are there. Or sometimes, if I can accomplish it, to take the troubling things and make sure you know there is hope.