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"When we commit ourselves to the process of art and not to the need to produce a saleable product, we begin to experience the joy of creation." - Julia Cameron, Finding Water If you are a professional, working writer, you're probably always on the lookout for paying jobs. I know I am. Have you ever felt at times like it was just too overwhelming? The mad rush of sending out queries, emailing potential clients, and digging through freelance ads to find work can become an arduous task. If you're not careful, you become so fixated on finding and getting work that you forget all about the simple joy of creating something with your words. In addition to money hindering your creative process, there are the everyday things that can weigh you down and steal your joy. Put The Drama On The Page While there are lots of things we can't control, the one thing we can control is our art. Many writers experience a sapping of their creative energy when drama presents itself in their life: An ex-spouse sends a hateful email A family member misconstrues something you said Co-workers fighting amongst themselves Marriage problems Anything that creates drama in your life is harmful to your creativity. When you allow yourself to become sucked into the vacuum of drama, your creative energy is sapped and you become unable to effectively creative. As Julia Cameron says, put the drama on the page. If you write fiction, take your personal drama and fling it onto the page. Create characters and situations using that drama and work it out on the page. Likewise, if you don't write fiction, pour out your thoughts into a journal. (Everyone should keep a daily journal.) Give yourself all the space and pages you need to work out that situation in your own mind. Sometimes the best way to deal with a situation is to write about it: How does it make you feel? What do you wish you could change? Who suffers the most because of this? Why does it seem to hurt so bad? Ask questions and answer them in your journal. Spilling your thoughts onto paper will help release the tension from your body and relieve your mind from the heaviness of your thoughts. Remain Committed When you stop writing for the fun of it and only write for money, you will experience a dynamic shift in your attitude towards writing. It might not happen in an instant. For many writers this shift is a gradual one. It happens bit by bit, eroding away at your soul without you even realizing it. Then one day the light bulb turns on as you realize you don't even enjoy writing any more. It is during these dry spells that changes happen. You might stop writing altogether. Maybe you feel as though you've emptied yourself of every ounce of worthy writing. Or maybe you attempt to slog through the marsh, ending up more frustrated than ever. A true writer remains committed. No matter what. Get Your Happy On--Steal Back Your Joy Regardless of what has stolen your joy of creating, whether it's drama or money, you can--and should--reclaim it. It's yours. Here are four baby steps you can take to help you rediscover and experience the joy of creating once again. Step 1: Go back to the beginning. When did you begin writing? What did you write? Before the formalities of being a "real" writer, or the excitement of being paid for your work, what did you write? Sometimes we simply lose our way. We must consistently return to the very essence of our writing soul. In doing so, we remain true to ourselves. One simple way of doing so is by writing a mission statement. Step 2: Write...just for fun. I heard the gulps and gasps. If you're like me, your first thought was probably, 'Write for fun?! But I can't...I have so much work to do. There's no time for fun!' If this is your first instinct, then I'm afraid I have to tell you that you've become a "grown-up" writer. Grown ups forget how to have fun. They stop trying new things. They stop playing. They work all the time and rarely take any time off. Find your inner child again. Let him/her come out and play again. You'll be amazed at how much good it can do. Step 3: Write something, then give it away. Wow...another round of gasps. "Real" writers aren't supposed to write for free....right? What would happen if you allowed yourself to write for the sheer pleasure of writing, then gave it away? What if you... Wrote a 5-page letter to an old friend Wrote a Thank You letter to your spouse Wrote your favorite recipes in a nice journal and gave it to a neighbor Wrote a helpful, informative article about a new health issue and submitted it at no cost to an up-and-coming magazine Would the world stop turning? Nope. Would you feel good, like you'd just done something wonderful that would make someone else's day? Yep. Step 4: Write from your heart, with no expectations. Another thing many "paid" writers do is fall into the trap of only writing pieces that they know they will be paid for. What's the fun in that? Sure, you learn and grow along the way, but where's the joy in writing something that you have to write? Draft a personal essay about something that happened to you last week. Write the monologue that's been swirling in your head for a month. Write the short story you've been wanting to try your hand at. Doing it just because, with no expectations of selling it. dissertation writing
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