Wasting Talent

“I have spent a good many years… too many, I think– being ashamed about what I write. I think I was forty before I realized that almost every writer of fiction and poetry who has ever published a line has been accused by someone of wasting his or her God-given talent. If you write (or paint or dance or sculpt or sing, I suppose), someone will try to make you feel lousy about it, that’s all.”  – Stephen King

A little encouragement for anyone out there feeling ashamed or guilty of your writing today– or of all the time you’ve spent bent over a computer or huddled in a corner with pen and paper.  Chances are, there are people who think you’re crazy.  But chances are, you’re not alone.

(By the way, if you haven’t read King’s autobiographical On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft yet, I would recommend picking it up– even if you’re not a fan of his fiction.  While it does offer valuable tricks of the trade, even greater in my mind is the frank insight King gives on the writing life.)  – CB

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