The Writing Life
The Ents are going to wake up and find that they are strong. – Gandalf
When you’re weary and merely going through the motions of the work you are called to do, you don’t feel strong. You feel weak. You think everybody must know how weak you feel and are.
The other day, Margie Clayman asked a question that she may have asked just to provoke me. She won’t say. She asked, “Does good writing still matter?” I know she and I both think good writing matters, but what, exactly, is good writing?
When your heart isn’t in it, you still work hard. You turn in your work on time. You continue to beat deadlines. You give your best efforts even if they feel false and pale in comparison to your usual ones. You trust that your heart will return to you, that you will find yourself giving your all, including all your heart, as you do your work.
Perfectionism can be a brutal thing. Discouragement can be equally so. When combined together, they don’t cancel each other out; they embolden and strengthen each other. The discouragement that could be overcome at any other time is magnified by the perfectionism and vice versa. Discouragement and perfectionism are a volatile and vicious cocktail.
…I recommend questioning everything: the media buy, the research, the whole reason the client is advertising – all of it. It’s likely you won’t be able to change anything one bit…But in the asking, in the challenging, whole new approaches may reveal themselves. Remember, the most important word a creative person can use is why. – Luke Sullivan [Read more…] about Always Ask Why
Happy birthday, H.A. Rey!