I'm reading Bill O'Hanlon's new book, Write Is A Verb. Great title!
He talks about 4 kinds of energy that can fuel writing. I know from other contact with him that he talks about the same 4 energies as fueling other active, basically positive responses to life too.
The 4 energies are: blissed, blessed, dissed, and pissed.
Briefly, when you feel blissed, you're in touch with the inner passion you feel for your subject and project. When you feel blessed, this comes from outside encouragement and help. These are positive energies.
But negative energies can be useful too! When you feel dissed, you've experienced rejection or disrespect from others or even a terrible loss. You respond with "I'll show you!" Feeling pissed comes from situations that inspire indignation and the desire to right a wrong or show a better way. Mary Pipher's books, which I discussed in my last post, comes from that sensibility and energy.
I like the idea that we can use all energies to propel us into writing. I wrote an article for the All But Dissertation Guide Newsletter on this idea. I called it "Motivating Yourself Over the Long Haul," and outlined ways to use both the carrot and the stick to keep yourself going. You can read the article by clicking here.
