Remember the Joy

Another Monday Inspiration.

This paper on my bulletin board has only three words on it "Remember the Joy!" I've forgotten who said this to me once, when I was worrying about all the things you learn to worry about once you start learning about writing, but I had to write it down and post it where I can see it every day.

Remember when you loved to write just for the sake of the story? Before you knew about POV? Before you'd ever heard about GMC or character arcs or scene and sequel? Back when you loved to sit down and write your stories just to see your characters come alive on the page?

Sometimes it's so easy to get caught up in all the mechanics of writing, that we forget the joy that comes from the words, the characters, the story. It's so easy to agonize over the three-act structure, the hero's journey, and all those other tools we've be given to tell our story that we forget the joy in telling the story itself. And as we worry about all these external things, our writing falls flat. The spark is gone.

And then there's the submission process, the queries, synopsis writing, the agent search. I could go on and on. No wonder we can forget the joy we felt when we realized we were writers. The joy when the words we put to paper told the story in our heart.

When you sit down to write today, remember the joy that brought you to write down your stories to begin with. Because if we can't feel the joy, what's the point in the writing??

Natasha