#1 Excuse For Not Writing Is... by @annfarnsworth #guestpost
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So you want to be a writer? There are a million excuses why it can’t be done but I’m here to tell you that you can do this! My first novel ‘The Throne of David’, was published on August 11th. I submitted the manuscript to one agent and one publisher, both of them responded to my inquiry, a small miracle in the publishing world.
I have written about the creative process in a pamphlet I call ‘A Remarkable Journey Towards Creativity’. It is the story of how I came to write and will help in overcoming excuses we use to resist writing. It is said that 86% of us believe we have a book in us. My life is an example, if I can do it anyone can. The world needs what you have to give. No more excuses, come with me and let’s get started!
Why Does It Have To Be Such A Struggle?
“I tell you: one must still have chaos in oneself, to give birth to a dancing star.”
–Frederick Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra
David DiSalvo said this about creativity: “Anyone who says “I don’t have a creative bone in my body” is seriously underestimating their skeleton. More to the point, they are drastically undervaluing their brain.” And who are we to discount the seeds of divinity within us?
I submit that creativity is an essential part of being human, and to deny its expression is like denying the existence of other crucial human elements that we’d be miserable without. How about a life without love? Or humor? Creativity is no less a part of who and what we are.
Mr. DiSalvo has given us 10 significant reasons why we struggle to get into a creative state of mind. And suggestions about how we can overcome the struggle.
- Your brain is always putting out fires.
Cognitive science research tells us that our brains are equipped with sensitive threat-alert systems and these systems are older than we are, evolutionarily speaking. In our brains, the limbic system–home of the well-known fight or flight response–is ready to click on with a micro second’s notice. That’s a good thing. The problem is that it’s ready to click on with a micro second’s notice. As with many paradoxes within our brains, the good is also the bad depending on context. Because we are so neurobiologically predisposed to looking for the next fire, it’s challenging to carve out a “safe space” for creativity.
Read the other 9 reasons HERE.
