Guest Blog; Passion – Writing for Yourself

Website Update: The Shannon A. Thompson, author Facebook page has surpassed 500 likes! Thank you for making my trip that much better. I can’t wait to share it with everyone. 

Hey, everyone. It’s Shannon, introducing Ky Grabowski. You might recognize her, because I talk about how wonderful she is all of the time! That is why I was so excited when she agreed to help me keep my blog going. Without further ado, check out this lovely lady:

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Passion; Writing for Yourself

 

Writing to me is as much a part of me as my own skin is. I don’t write the words down without seeing them in the world being created. I see the story unfolding before me like an unfinished movie.

When I write, I don’t write for the profit of a career [though of course I admit – having a career in writing would be a dream come true] I write for myself.

Why do you write for yourself and not others?

It used to feel selfish to me but it’s not something I worry about now. I learned a long time ago that writing for others was not the kind of writer I could be. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to write for others, as time went on it proved to deprive me of passion.  [Which often makes me feel guilty] I lost sight of the world my characters were in. I no longer held the passion for writing I could feel inside of me. The picture of who I was couldn’t be painted from others.

I use to write for others because I was taught to give; I grew up feeling good about giving to others all the time. The trouble began when I allowed that to be such a part of my passion that writing suffered. I always had the ability to write and the ideas but when the words were typed out – it was as dull as a white, blank piece of paper.

I quickly found out my strengths and weaknesses

How come this hopeful approach didn’t work? Recently I was in conversation with someone who felt their writing was awful because people weren’t telling them they were good. They explained how worried they were when they received no feedback. It got me thinking about how I use to be in the exact same position. I was so concerned with the approval of others I forgot about my own approval.

The reason writing to please others didn’t work for me was because I got stuck in the overwhelming pressure and forced my hands. I didn’t believe in the words I wrote or the story. Passion should never be forced.

Force halted passion.

How did this change? Over time I wrote again and decided that there would be no agenda, there would be no profit, and I simply would do it for myself.

This change of mind allowed me to believe in myself in a way I never did before. I didn’t rely on approval or compliments. Through this I was able to disregard a lot of negativity other’s offered. It gave the chance to enjoy my passion and find in myself what I had to offer the world. Writing is my passion and throughout past experiences I learned how to never lose that passion again.

Everyone has a different approach to writing, and through the years the approach I took has changed. This approach works for me and has helped me. This change has allowed me to become more confident in myself and has given me the ability to know when to accept criticism and when not to worry.

Shannon Thompson actually summed it up much better than I, in her spotlight interview. “How do you handle rejection? What advice can you offer to move past it?

Handling rejection is different for everyone, but my biggest part of rejection is defining what kind of rejection it is. For instance, there’s a difference between a “hate” and a “critique.” Everyone will get someone who doesn’t like their work, but if it’s simply “I didn’t like it” you just got a “hate.” There’s nothing constructive about it. So I only pay attention to constructive criticism and/or rejections.”

I love that Shannon looks at rejection as I do. With her words, I can honestly say I am having more fun and enjoying writing as I should be. I think when you have a passion for something, understanding it and why it’s become a passion is important. I can’t escape my writing – I see stories wherever I am.

Writing is that sweet tooth I must satisfy, that addiction I have to succumb and the only way I can breathe in my own skin. Writing as I’ve stated on many occasions provides me an escape from not only reality but myself.

I understand that without writing I would only be wandering in this world.

Without it I’m certain life wouldn’t be better and that I am the best person I can be because of my passion. I wouldn’t be, becoming the woman I am today without writing. I’ve grown in this passion and each time a story is born I learn a little more about myself through that. Writing is who I am, I’m a writer and nothing can take that away from me again. I know what my passion is and how it defines me.

This is how a good thing – turned bad – wound up becoming the best thing to happen to me. This experience reminded me how you can always use the bad to create change and how to use it to your advantage.