{"id":1125,"date":"2018-10-29T19:27:44","date_gmt":"2018-10-29T23:27:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/dremadeoraich\/?p=1125"},"modified":"2018-10-29T19:27:44","modified_gmt":"2018-10-29T23:27:44","slug":"for-love-or-money-fueling-the-creative-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/29\/for-love-or-money-fueling-the-creative-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"For Love or Money: Fueling the Creative Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p> $\"\"$ I was looking over some writing tips on other people\u2019s blogs today when I came across a tip I\u2019ve seen elsewhere, too: Don\u2019t try to write what you think will sell. Write what you want to read. Write what moves you. Write to understand the world around you.\n

These words made an impression on me because that\u2019s pretty much what I do. I try to keep in mind the elements of good storytelling, true, but I am often not sure where to query one of my finished stories because I didn\u2019t write it for a specific market. I wrote it for me. Thus I must research the (seemingly) bazillions of magazines that accept short fiction in order to determine which one will be a good match.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m willing to bet I\u2019m not the only writer who does this. Because (as advised by part two of that tip above) most of the writers I know write to their passion. Their stories, characters, plots and settings move them as writers for reasons that are no doubt quite personal and probably inexplicable. When I sit down to write a specific tale, the characters and settings and plot often twist in ways I had not foreseen. They take on a life of their own and while I am steering the boat, they have a great deal of input in where we go as a team. I often look at a finished story that came from my head and think, \u201cWow, that\u2019s nothing like the concept I set out to write.\u201d But\u2014and here\u2019s the thing\u2014it always holds meaning for me, usually with even deeper symbolism than I originally intended. The characters, their challenges, their resolutions, always touch me in ways that I could never fully explain. If they don\u2019t, the story often goes unfinished.<\/p>\n

Some of my works started out as ideas prompted by my attempts to understand the Mysteries of life around me. \u201cDancing Man\u201d (non-fiction, but relevant nonetheless) was written while I tried to make sense of my own relationship\u2014and responsibility\u2014to homeless people. \u201cThat Shining Moment\u201d came about when I tried to imagine what it would be like to be personally affected by random gun violence. Other stories, like \u201cShark\u201d and \u201cSwitch,\u201d both arose fully formed in my head when I wished for something I didn\u2019t have and wondered what price I might have to pay to \u201cwish\u201d my desire into existence; let\u2019s face it, nothing comes without a cost. \u201cUpshot\u201d and \u201cMurder of Crows\u201d were born in my love of birds, and my curiosity over an interactive relationship between a human and wild Nature. There are more, but you get the picture.<\/p>\n

I suppose if I wrote to a specific market, I would find it easier to submit my works. But it seems to me $\"\"$ that a tailor-made piece like that might feel flat. Robert Frost said, \u201cNo tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.\u201d I happen to agree. I feel like a story that doesn\u2019t move or excite me as a writer will never appeal to a reader. My heart wouldn\u2019t be in it and my readers would know that.<\/p>\n

For me, the soul of a piece of fiction arises from passion. I\u2019m sure there are plenty of examples that prove me wrong. But I have not reached the point in my writing career where I can enliven a project that holds no personal meaning or that does not appeal to my spiritual nature in any way. Perhaps that means I\u2019ll never get rich through my words, but that\u2019s okay. I might have had that glamorous expectation when I began, but it isn\u2019t the money that keeps me at it. I write because of the joy it excites in my heart, and because I can\u2019t not. Though it would be nice to make a living doing this thing I love so, no monetary figure can compare to the ecstatic feeling of completing a story that says something meaningful.<\/p>\n

Every writer is different, and each of us has our own special way of awakening the creative juices in ourselves. What makes you feel most inspired? What sparks the Muse\u2019s fire in your work?<\/p>\n

See you next week!<\/p>\n

Money Grab photo courtesy of Pexels<\/a>.
\nPassion Electrocardiogram image by GDJ. Courtesy of Pixabay<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"