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K.M. Weiland says a lot of things that grab me when I think I can sneak past with a cursory glance at her site. It’s that moment when time is limited and I promise myself I’ll just snatch a brief look at her topic du jour and get back to work. She never lets me get away with it. There is always something that captures my attention.
I have a section in one of my writing binders with quotations and excerpts intended for inspiration and encouragement. Some of the entries are gleaned from her websites. One favourite:
“Writing is both a gift and an art.
As a gift, it must be approached with humility: the writer is only the vessel through which inspiration flows.
As an art, it must be approached with passion and discipline: a gift that’s never developed wasn’t worth the giving.”
[K M Weiland]
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I found another gem in her post today that has already been printed out and added to my collection for days when I need reassurance — a reminder that, regardless of what I may think of my ability on any given day, I am a writer and my writing is important to me. I love what I do, and I will write with joy.
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Do you sometimes need a reminder that what you do as a writer is worthwhile?
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MUSINGS 
Carol, all three of Weiland’s quotes are keepers. It takes time to adjust to this gift, to learn it is the heart and soul of who we are. As such, there are times we also see that in all gifts, there is the curse of doubt, fear, and insecurity … those days when we wish we had been given something less difficult to master. But in the struggle to free the muse and send the heart souring into the heavens with joy and abandon, we learn the best lesson.
Yes, I am a writer. I work at it, I nurture it and I try to remember each day, this is no life for the weak of spirit. When we answer the call of our muse, we also discover, it is a labor of love 🙂 Thanks for the inspiration.
Thank you for the heads up. I’m heading to her website to printout and share. Wonderful nudge!
Thanks for an inspiring start to Monday 🙂
Someone else sent me her quote, I love it!
I too love the quotes and will print out the You’re a Writer one. Thanks for sharing. (BTW, LOVE the cat. Is he yours?)
Ooh, that “wordplayer’s manifesto” is very good!
I definitely need a reminder from time to time. Too often my practical side rears its head and tries to banish my creative side. (Why can’t all my sides just get along?!) 😉
Thanks to all of you for your feedback today. Some gifts come with a price, in that we are required to work at them to make best use of them. Sometimes we just need a nudge like this manifesto to remind us that a gift shouldn’t be wasted.
Darlene, the photo of the cat is a generic, public domain one. We’re a dog household… no cats here since DH is allergic to them.
Shari, maybe those two sides need to attend a counselling session! LOL!
Oh, how I need this just now. I’m going to print that one out, Carol. Thanks so much – encouragement and a good, strong ‘buck-up, girl!’ That’s what I hear. Yes, you are a writer. And so am I.
I often need assurances that I’m doing the right thing by spending time writing. Especially when my chores seem to pile up. Now when I don’t write, I feel like a naughty child who is purposely not listening to instructions from high. In January when a reporter in Manitoba asked my family if any of them were also writers and they all shook their heads, as if the thought was impossible, I realized that what I do is from God. Not an order as much as a gift. They have their gifts and I have mine.
Off to visit KM.
Do you sometimes need a reminder that what you do as a writer is worthwhile?
How thought provoking. And exactly what I needed to read today.
Several people, over my lifetime have asked me “how can you write all the time?”
Usually what I’m thinking (but not saying)…is writing to me is like breathing to you. If I’m not at the computer writing, I’m “thinking” about writing. And if I’m not writing, I’m reading.
I love this blog……I can’t wait to read more she’s written…..
“Writing to me is like breathing to you.” Well said, Katt… or, should I say, well thought? I suspect those who don’t write have trouble understanding the hold writing has on us. And then I wonder why I let such people influence how I feel about what I do… among other things, as Joylene mentions, questioning the validity of spending time writing instead of doing ‘more important’ things like housework. We shouldn’t need to justify our writing if we feel God’s pull to it. We answer only to him for how we use the abilities he has given us. We will answer to him if we don’t use them, too.