Wednesday 18 May 2011

The Love Made It Through


Just a quick post today as I'm busy ahead of a well-deserved break, but I wanted to share something I read recently by David Richo:

My greatest joy is in the realization that I can still love. That capacity remained intact despite all the blows.
That the love made it through means that I made it through.


This is very meaningful for me right now, as I swamp-trudge my way through grief due to a (hopefully temporary) separation from someone I dearly love.

But this quote also has some resonance for me in terms of writing-that no matter what other life forces intrude, my love for that remains. No matter what else breaks my heart, the excitement about finishing my next novel and then the next is still there.

In fact, it's comforting to know, that despite the disappointments, the dreadful doubts, the isolation, lack of money or time or whatever hurts have hit my creative life over the years, the love for language, for strange imaginary people who move in with me and persuade me to tell their stories is resilient.

Love for others, for self, for our work may be difficult, even sometimes apparently impossible, but without it, the artistic self shrivels. Love is a sign of survival, as Richo says, but it is also the fuel of all that is great in life. It may seem easier sometimes to cool to all that's painful by throwing the water of cynicism over it, but then we also lose the messy warmth which makes being the world and passionate writing possible.

Because I have so much love inside me right now that it makes me cry on the stairs, because I love my work enough to worry about its future or whether I've chosen the accurate image to describe a character's hair, I know I made it through my past and will make it through this shadowy, frightening time too. And so will you, whatever goes on. As Richo also says in his book, How to Love as an Adult:"Let the chips fall where they may." Love never fails.








Monday 9 May 2011

You Can Always Begin Again


So says the wise Pema Chodron and so I'm here nearly two years after I stopped blogging, ready to start over.

Today's the start of other exciting adventures too - my website, www.sharonzink.com, is now online after months of emailing back and forth between me and my lovely school friend, Helen Cingisiz, a brilliant web designer and comedienne who now resides in Turkey (thanks, Bagsy!). Go read some of my stories and have a mooch around my recommended writer's resources.

The site will also be the home to this blog from now on and I'm going to use my weekly blathering here to not only offer you lovely readers free writing exercises and tips on crafting and editing your work, but to also provide a space to consider writing as an emotional experience, a holistic thing which involves all aspects of our being. I'm intrigued to learn how we can build our confidence in our creativity and use our creativity to build our confidence - as, in my experience, it's definitely a two-way street. I really do believe in writing towards possibility.

Nothing brings this whole issue of artistic fear and loathing to the surface than submitting your work for publication and today was another milestone in that I've just sent my first novel to my mentor, Jacqui Lofthouse who is then going to pass it on to agents ... Many of you who read my blog before will know just how long I've been working on various drafts of Sharonville and so to be finally at this place is a real miracle.

And the weird thing is, after literally years of wobbling about, dreading this moment of judgement, I actually feel oddly okay. I may crumble when the rejection bumper cars come bashing towards me, but, tonight, I'm at peace - I feel I've done the best I can with the skills I have as a writer right now and that's enough.

Completing any novel - or even a poem or short story, for that matter - is a triumph and we have to remember that, no matter what its fate in the world may be. Success or no success, I'm still Sharon and I'll keep trying to honour the truth of the characters who wander into my imagination so long as I'm alive.

We may not get the screaming, lingerie-throwing fame of rock and film stars, but writers are quiet heroes with a quiet courage which needs to be recognized - daily, we fight off the dragons of loneliness, financial insecurity and the god-awful demon of Nobody Gives A Damn What You Do. And it's that we need to celebrate - not just on the "big" days when we complete a project, but on every day when we struggle to find the words, despite the dramas and beauty of being alive. We need to cherish the way we keep walking that frail path of petals towards the horizon ... [Thanks to Steve Jurvetson for the beautiful image.]

Happy writing! Please feel free to let me know if there are any particular issues or topics you'd like me to cover in future by emailing me or making comments here. Have a good week xx