Thursday, July 30, 2009

Elizabeth Gilbert on Creativity

I hate it when bloggers apologize for their absence. It seems like a cop out -- a somewhat presumptuous cop out. But I am sorry for not spending more time on the blog. I've been working on a stage play and a LOT of teaching. My screenwriting efforts have been mostly limited to clients, and it's best not to share material related to those projects (even obliquely).

I did re-open a script for redrafting today and had one of those beautiful, transcendent moments when you slip into your work like a hot bath. You find the key to something and before you know it the insurmountable job of a few weeks suddenly makes sense in a morning. I stood back and let whatever or whoever is in charge of inspiration take over.

It made me think of this lecture by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love. I offer it up to all the writers out there with the dedication and fearlessness to choose a career (and a life) founded on a capricious little daemon that speaks only when propitiated in the most maddening ways.

And I promise I'll be back with more posts soon.

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