Baby

With any creative work, the end result (or at least one of them) is considered your "baby". This is the most dangerous mindset a writer could have along with anyone else who has a personal attachment to their created works. When dealing with something that can be edited, such as a written piece, it is to the benefit of the writer to be critiqued and accept the viewpoint of others. That doesn't go to say that those viewpoints always need to be followed, but the work will continue to lack dimension (in most cases) when offense is taken to a critique.

Falling in love with an ugly first draft as if it were the full finished work cripples the potential. I've worked in video editing and motion graphics, and I've learned that what my eye doesn't catch everything, and that what's needed may not be what I produce the first few times. If I took that personally, I'd quickly be out of work and limit my growth substantially. The same goes for our writing. Growing hurts and criticism isn't fun all the time. Changing the mindset and adapting is what separates those full of themselves from those who make a living.

Not everyone is going to understand a certain perspective, and not everyone will like the same story. But allowing yourself to be open and see at least why is a powerful tool. We can't be swayed by every opinion, but we also can't be stuck in our ways. Finding that happy medium is what will promote growth to those who want it and prevent a lot of heartache along the way. I speak from experience.

Friends

A relationship in any given person's life can be the grounds of a great story, written or simply lived out. This can go either way in terms of what is beneficial or not, but regardless, these close and personal relationships are great mediums of tapping into deep sources of our emotion and the realities of who we really are. How do we act to our enemies? How do we act to our friends. How do we treat our friends who become our enemies? That concept alone could fuel a novel series' storyline.

Still, the point is, how potent are the relationships in our lives and how much are we truly gaining from them? How much are we giving? Are they worth writing about? Can they bring forth the emotion of others to move them beyond what's written? Everyone needs to be careful about who they surround themselves with, but this goes especially for those of us who are aiming to have an impact on a larger group of people through our writing. The real questions are: do we really expect to influence people? how many? are we even doing enough to influence our own friends or draw something meaningful out of them?

Writing is fueled by passion and our deepest relations with the people we share them with. Hopes, dreams, love, and hate. It's our responsibility, not only to make an impact in them, but to have people around that can bring forth that potential for impact; relationships with real meaning, depth, and value. Hopefully that came across as intended.

Still love your friends, live for them, and seek to grow WITH them, not in spite of them. But do it with people who bring out the best in you, and embrace the negative aspects into constructive work from those who are against you. That's where the true soul will come out. I'm saying this to myself, more than anything, but also to whoever may gain something from this.

Purpose

There's purpose to everything. If there isn't then it's not worth doing. Still, we're somewhere, doing something, for some purpose at all times. That alone can provoke thought, but my focus now it on purpose in the sense of motivation to action.

A big pain for me right now is school. I don't like school... at all. And that's a horrible attitude to have. Still, aside from my personal biases, I'm here for purposes beyond my understanding that slowly come to me bit by bit. Every step of the way, in any of my classes, I begin to understand what I'm able to get out of it, bit by bit.

A character in a story is placed into situations unknowingly. Is there a purpose for him/her to be there? Yes. Even if it's only to fill a paragraph's space, things happen for a reason to get to the end and goal of the story. The true meaning of the story is found within those events, but they aren't understood until you read that final line.

That's how it's been for me. I know the Author has a great plan and ending, and I'm just enjoying the ride (some times more than others, I'll admit). My character is being revealed and I see who I'm developing to be. My passion and fire for writing has been rekindled and now I'm beginning to understand how situations can fuel endless numbers of stories, poems, songs, etc. Not that I didn't get it before, but now I'm experiencing it, through my own life and situations along with their results. Life is the best example of writing. Just as a story has no value to a closed mind, however, so life has no purpose to those who don't seek to understand it.