What Inspires You?

A mother of several small kids struggles to see her way beyond the perpetual pile of dirty diapers and other mom chores she has to perform between waking and sleeping every day. Being the main and stay-at-home parent, most of the odious chores of keeping a decent house and rearing children born close together fill her days. It’s all she can manage most of the time, but she once had dreams of being a writer. Since the father of her children isn't a hands-on kind of guy, and her parents and family support are on the other side of the country, her dreams have been put on hold indefinitely. Many nights she sits in her rocker and cries from sheer exhaustion. Her salvation comes in the form of being transported by good fiction or visionary poetry. Wouldn't you love to be the one whose words make her tired eyes light up?

Who do you write for? Why do you write?

We all get inspiration for tooling our words into pleasing finished pieces from different sources. For me, it's imagining the eyes of someone reading a humorous story, a well-written poem, or a colorful splash of VizPo I’ve crafted. This vision in my head encourages me to keep at it.

When the self-doubts pile up or procrastination threatens to derail me, I picture a receptive set of peepers just waiting to read the words I've strung together. And sometimes that does the trick. But what good is my writing if it stays locked up in an electronic file? It can't serve others or me from that location.

I know I can't be alone in this puzzling dichotomy called the writer's life. Won't you drag out, clean up and send off some of your work today? C'mon...what's the worst that can happen? A little rejection? You're a big boy/girl; it'll just make you stronger and more determined if you receive a No Thanks instead of an acceptance. Maybe you’ll luck out. But you (we) won't know unless we submit.

See that man who just got downsized out of a job he's held for so long, he's almost ready for retirement? Do you know he may be waiting for one more nudge before he'll begin putting thought to paper in the form of wonderful personal essays?

What about that young student over there? She's had a rough year at the university, and could really use your experiences to encourage her to continue on her path.

Just so you know, I recently read a similar post somewhere in the Blogosphere. And, yes, it inspired me to pay it forward, take a chance, express my thoughts on the whys and how-comes of writing. I originally posted it at The Rose & Thorn's Literary ezine's blog under editor tips and tidbits last week. {It's a great place to dig around and find good writing info., so check it out if you get the chance.} And thanks to Ang for the blogging mentor award. 'Preciate you!

Now, who do you write for? Why do you write?

{Graphic from Photobucket.com}