Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

People who know me do not think of me as a particularly enthusiastic person. For one thing, I'm a Libra, and if you know anything about astrology, you know that we Librae tend to have measured, even-keeled personalities. Sure, every now and then we might have moments of passionate outburst, but they are few and far between. Most of the time, we tend to sit back, analyze the situation, and then calmly figure out what to do next. In fact, a picture I took with my friend @dmaddock1 this weekend offers a pretty good anecdote of my expression of enthusiasm most days.

YOLO
Me and @dmaddock1 livin' it up

Of course, expression and enthusiasm are two different things. A lot of people mistake outward portrayal or signaling for emotion itself, even though we all know that not everybody wears their hearts on their sleeves. Sometimes, you can't just whoop and holler for joy, or break down and start sobbing wildly, no matter how you're feeling in the particular moment. A person's level of enthusiasm for a thing may or may not have anything to do with the expressions or signals they are giving to others.

When it comes to writing, though, you do have to have a certain level of enthusiasm about whatever it is you are writing. You have to take an interest in the subject, in the characters, in the settings and descriptions. Even if you are an even-keeled, analytical Libra like me, you have to let yourself get lost in the passion of the piece you are working on. The writing must become the expression of your enthusiasm, even if you are not someone who typically expresses such things in public.

I believe this is a big part of why writing is so personal. In so many cases, it reveals the things that we are really thinking about underneath all of the masks and false faces that we put on for society. It uncovers a part of ourselves that typically we want to keep covered, that we rarely let others see in our daily lives. Some of the greatest works of literature came out of the secret enthusiasms of their authors: Tolkien's Middle-earth stories started from his "secret vice" of creating languages; Emily Dickinson's wrote her poems only for herself and shoved them under her bed until someone else found them after she died. Other writers may spend years, decades, even their whole lives working on a story, and that's a level of enthusiasm you cannot fake.

Is enthusiasm always easy? No. But you can maintain it by keeping a curious outlook, by allowing yourself to explore the things that are deep inside you. Your enthusiasms may change throughout your life, but you will always have them. The important thing is to write them down and let them be the source of your best stories.

Image: Pexels
Quote from "Circles" by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Monday Writing Motivations

Recent Posts

Follow Curtis

Follow Bookdotes