Sleep on your writing; take a walk over it; scrutinize it of a morning; review it of an afternoon; digest it after a meal; let it sleep in your drawer a twelvemonth; never venture a whisper about it to your friend, if he be an author especially. ~A. Bronson Alcott
Amos Bronson Alcott, the father of Louisa May Alcott was a well-known educator and transcendentalist.In the quote Amos reminds writers how important their work is but the last line is very telling. It makes me wonder if in one of his discussions he said a little more than he should have. When we are passionate about our writing we want to tell everyone, it’s hard to keep it to ourselves. Another reason Amos might have cautioned this is he knew that once you whisper about your work to a friend, it’s out there you know longer feel the need to write it. Has this ever happened to you? You have a great idea for a article or a book and then you tell someone and then your great idea doesn’t seem so remarkable anymore.Contain your enthusiasm for the pages. Now get back to work!
Lovingly,
The Writing Nag
Motivating post! And the quote is very thought-provoking….
I relate to the excitement and wanting to tell everyone. Isn’t that natural for enthusiastic writers?
Smiles,
Michele
Writing the Cyber Highway
Thanks Michelle, I’m a big fan of your blog.
For me, it depends on the person. Once I have things as gelled as I can get them in my own head, I have a few people I can bounce the ideas off. I almost always come away with a fresh take on a problem I’m having. But it took a while to find the right people.
I have had those who look at you like you’ve grown a second nose. Not conducive to creative flow.