“Writing is an act of ego”

“Believe in your own identity and your own opinions. Proceed with confidence, generating it, if necessary, by pure willpower. Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it. Use its energy to keep yourself going.”

Words of wisdom from William Zinser. And so true. The very idea that we might have something to say in a story is an expression of ego.

Creativity emerges from the “I”. A story is a unique expression of who we are and what we have experienced.

So don’t run away from that dynamic. Rather embrace. Use it to sustain you from FADE IN to FADE OUT. As Zinser says, “Use its energy to keep yourself going.”

A good reason to remember…

Writing is an act of ego.

I encourage you to head to comments to discuss today’s questions. And for a related discussion on The Black Board, check out these topics:

• The Dunning-Kruger vs Imposter Syndrome divide
• Even William Blake needed a little prompting
• How do you get past waiting for permission?

The Quest” has entered Week 22! And so did Go On Your Own Quest, an opportunity for anyone to follow the structure of “The Quest” to dig into screenwriting theory [Core — 8 weeks], figure out your story [Prep — 6 weeks], and write a first draft [Pages — 10 weeks]. It’s a 24-week immersion in the screenwriting process and you can do it here — for free!

Today and every Monday through Friday for 10 weeks, I’ll use this slot to post something inspirational as GOYOQ participants pound out their first drafts.

Why not use the structure of this 24-week workshop to Go On Your Own Quest? That was an idea that gathered energy among many members of the GITS community which I described here.

For more information on Go On Your Own Quest, go here.

Plus you can join The Black Board, the Official Online Writing Community of the Black List and Go Into The Story, another free resource to help keep you inspired and on target at you Go On Your Own Quest from FADE IN to FADE OUT on the first draft of your original screenplay.

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