The Joy of Writing…

This past weekend, I rented the 2009 version of FAME.  I waited this long because I was a huge fan of the original movie and the TV series from the 80s.  You know how that goes, you never quite like the remake as much as the original…  But I was pleasantly surprised with this movie.  And throughout it all, through the struggles and the wins that each student in the movie faced, the movie reminded me of one thing: Remember the joy in doing what you love.

In being a writer, it can become a slippery slope to slide into an uber focus on craft, learning, submitting, facing rejections and dealing with the business end of things.  It’s stressful, and it definitely creates an emotional roller coaster.  But we can also allow ourselves to get too caught up in that, and when we do, we forget the joy of writing.  The reason we all started writing in the first place.

Here is a scene from the movie, at lunchtime:

That scene said so much to me.  These were kids who were studying their craft, living it day and night, working hard to stay in a very competitive school.  And still, at lunchtime, their natural joy and love of what they do comes out.  They play.

So it made me think, as writers, how do you PLAY?   Do you give yourself time away from the business aspects to just sit and write for the sheer joy of it? Perhaps it’s a story you don’t intend to sell.  Perhaps it’s poetry. Perhaps it’s nothing in particular.   But it’s all important just the same…remember to feel the joy of what you do.  It’s what started us on this path, it’s what makes us strive to succeed.

Part of how I play is reading.  I have long lived and breathed books and it’s a tremendous joy and inspiration to me.    What about you?  How do you get reacquainted with the joy that made you love writing in the first place?