Life Lessons that You Shouldn't Apply to Writing.

The beautiful thing about writing is having the freedom to take risks, enjoy the luxury of having no boundaries and as an art, it's a place where you can ignore all basic rhetoric of "life lessons," such as:

Test the water before jumping in. In going about our day to day, it's not always wise to act on impulse. Many scenarios involve a process of critical thinking so we can come out of the the situation victorious. For writing, the opposite applies. It's a must that you jump in. Over-thinking the writing process can stifle your creativity. Allowing words to flow as they come to you in the absence of your own criticism will allow you to produce pieces that may have never made it to paper. Refuse to engage in the tedium of editing while you should be maximizing your creative talent.

Share. We've all heard this since preschool. Share your toys. Share your feelings. We're encouraged to share everything from material possessions to being open about our emotional disposition. It's healthy. It's polite. But in art, sharing isn't always necessary. Sometimes your work never turns into a finished product, but serves as a solid foundation for greater pieces. There's nothing wrong with keeping your writer's notebook and/or sketchbook private. I get completely vexed when people don't understand when I'm not open to divulging everything I write. [No, I'm not opposed to discussing drafts.]

Follow Through. It's not always a bad idea to be a quitter. I'm confused by artists who think they have to absolutely commit to a piece that they've started. Creating any type of art in the absence of inspiration is called 'work.' When creating starts to feel like work, I ditch it. When I'm no longer moved by a character, I write them out. When I begin a poem that isn't flowing naturally, I scratch it. If I torment myself with trying to marry something I've started, I cheat myself out of creative time that could have been spent more productively.

Art is the ultimate expression of freedom. There are no laws, no rules, no rigid expectations.