Thursday, February 25, 2010

Permission

Dear Muse:

I will not succumb to my desire for brilliance today. If the words do not string together in perfect succession, I will not beat myself up, threaten to throw in the towel, or resort to childish tantrums.

If I do not complete my projected word count, I will not brand myself a failure.

I will not sit by the phone waiting for "the call" or obsessively refresh my e-mail inbox. And I will certainly not be distracted by temptation, or deem February 25 a day for procrastination disguised as research.

I will write without judgement.

I will write with passion.

And I will give myself permission to write crap.

Issues? Take them up with me tomorrow.

The Book In My Bag Today: Ceremony in Death, J.D. Robb

3 comments:

  1. I think you should keep this as your site's creed. Or frame it for over your desk, right beside The Hulk. ;)

    Words any writer should live by.

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  2. The phrasing is something I learned from James Rollins, who says he sometimes has a post-it note stuck to the side of his computer with those words. Indeed, a good creed for writers to live by, though many struggle with it, including me.

    Framing it would be good...maybe not RIGHT beside the Hulk (I hate to crowd the man), but definitely on the wall somewhere.

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