I saw this quote on St Patrick’s Day and want to share it here:
“Life is no brief candle to me. It is a splendid torch, which I have got hold of for the moment; and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.” Irish writer George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
Shouldn’t all of our writing efforts be full of this drive and passion?
After all, this is how I want to feel when I read a book. I want to hold that splendid torch in the form of a story that burns brightly in my mind, then share it with others.
(Even better if I can feel this way when I’m writing a book – at least once in a while during the process.)
If we infuse our creative life (not to mention life in general) with this attitude, I believe we’d enjoy the writing process more, and in turn our readers would experience our best.
Writing takes practice and like everything else, is affected by attitude. Which also takes practice. And a positive attitude is even more vital when your primary endeavor is as solitary as writing.
We have to light our own candle as we sit down to write. As we add to the events and characters of our story, we can build that candle into a splendid torch designed to light up our reader’s imagination.
Offering our best story, embracing our strengths is what gives readers that grand experience they will eagerly share with others.
And it just might mean we offer up stories that will be handed down to future generations.
Live the adventure!
