In the U.S., we’re celebrating Thanksgiving today. And I thought it might be interesting to hear what your thoughts are to this question:
In terms of your writing and being a writer, what are you thankful for?
I’ll mention one thing I’ve noted before: That writing helps a person better understand their ‘self.’ By going into our stories, we’re actually going into ourselves. And it’s probably fair to say that much of what we imbue our characters with derives from who we are, drawing upon a lifetime of memories, experiences, feelings, thoughts, and so on.
In a way, I suppose, it’s like a variation of Freud’s notion of projection: Whereas he looked at it as an unconscious denial of one’s own attributes, which are then projected onto other people or the world around us, what we do in our writing results in using aspects of who we are, both ‘positive’ and ‘negative,’ bringing them to life in the characters and situations we create, then seeing how they play out in the context of the story we write.
In other words, writing as therapy… learning about our ‘self.’
A nifty side benefit of writing – and one for which I’m thankful.
How about you? What about your writing cause you to give thanks?
I guess I'm thankful that my writing sometimes make me feel better. I'm thankful my writing has allowed me to create fictional characters and a fictional world where I'm the one in control.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and everyone else!
I'm thankful for Final Draft software.
I'm thankful I get to spend time hanging out with my characters, who i probably wouldn't get to hang out with in real life.
and i'm thankful for people who read all the stuff i write.
My Family and Writing,both have made me see my life,in such a different way. I'm very Thankful.
I'm thankful for my son, my wife, my family and most of all my friends … I've made some new friends this past year and I'm most thankful for that.
Although I've always loved reading, writing and film, I'm thankful for the epiphany I had this year: that the sum of my talents, interests and life experience all add up to one basic personality type: the writer/director!
I've been at this a while and continually questioning my choices, but this is the only road for me. I'm well aware that it's a tough life and the odds are hugely against me but like it or not, this is the only thing I'm cut out to do, and knowing and "owning" that feels awesome.
I'm also thankful for all the wonderful advice I've gleaned and people I've discovered through blogging — thank you all for your generosity of mind and spirit, and Happy T'day, Scott!