Hello there,
In my recent workshops I decided to end the session with a quote from Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. This quote inspired and spurred me onto to continue to create and be proud of the end product that I produce. No matter what happens. I have always felt this since I was young, that no matter whether you are successful (some of the most phenomenal artists in the world were not successful commercially in their lives) in financial terms or not you have created something from nothing.
Be proud of all the work and the creative process, you created something from nothing. You created characters that did not exist, and a narrative in which they lived and breathed, succeeded or failed, loved and fought for those they loved. In my novel I am finishing currently, there is life and death, there is love and loss and there is life. It is based on the real women who fought in Syria, loosely based on real people but no one in particular. I created these women, their lives, families, the world that the reader lives in. I had to research so much of this novel as it is completely outside my knowledge of the world and use my imagination of course. It was very difficult. But this is what an artist does, they challenge themselves and want to see things from other people’s point of view. That’s what I wanted to tell the stories of these amazing, brave women!
Anyway, I wanted to share this quote as I believe it will spur you on as well, in whatever creative endeavour you find yourself in. I love it, it makes me emotional when I read it. 🙂 Happy writing and have a great day.
“Bring forth what is within you, then, whether it succeeds or fails. Do it whether the final product…is crap or gold. Do it whether the critics love or hate you or whether the critics have never heard of you and perhaps never will hear of you. Do it whether people get it or don’t get it. It doesn’t have to be perfect, and it doesn’t have to be Plato. It’s all just an instinct, and an experiment, and a mystery, so begin. Begin anywhere. Preferably, now. And if greatness should ever accidentally stumble upon you, let it catch you hard at work.”
Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic.
Suzanne Strong 