The Bereshit Bara Creativity Series asks Creatives to wrestle with how they make the first move, write the first word, fling the first brush stroke, peel back the first layer of clay? What inspires them, what moves them, what drives them?
Today features meditations from our generous and talented blogging community. Jump on over to their sites and leave a comment.
If this is something you have written about send me your thoughts or a link to your post wrestling with these questions at rossgale4@gmail.com.
Download podcasts from the series or subscribe to the Podcast Series on iTunes.
Kathryn Johnson on the magic of writing,
I write because I want to believe in something. I love the feel of a story, how it unravels in my imagination, how it raises questions and concerns and hope. Without story, without the opportunity to believe in something, we are left with only one chance. A sort of Russian roulette, where no one contemplates consequences, choices, or difference-making. When I write, that’s my opportunity to speak up, answer impossible questions, change truth, evoke hope.
Valerie Noble on the process of writing her first novel,
After I got that original sentence out of my head, I began to write. I use a macbook pro, but I also write by hand. I always have a notebook with me, especially when I was in school. I pulled several of them out to remind myself of how many I filled while writing The Energy Crusades. Interspersed amongst my chemistry notes, are passages from my story. There are cutouts from magazines- pictures of living roofs, what the University should look like, how the grids are set up- and pages and pages of chapters, some that never made it into the book at all. They are still part of the story, however, a part of the journey that gave me a beginning, middle, and end.
From Quotidiandose,
Again, we knock. And knock. As a matter of etiquette we wait outside the door waiting for someone to open it. After a while, through impatience we test the knob and it turns. In the business world, it’s common to keep the doors closed, yet not locked so customers can come in to the front counter. Are you going to the front counter? Or are you waiting for someone to open the door? At someone’s home it’s poor manners to open the door and just walk on in, unless you’re family or good friends. But, in a business – ie – publishing, are you crossing the threshold and stepping to the counter where someone can actually assist you? Or are you pounding a business door, and they are inside wondering why you don’t just come on in? Are you even checking to see if the knob turns? sometimes we give up too easily.
Ross Gale is a writer and editor from the Pacific Northwest. 
i write because all day long, stories just leap into my head. i drive past an old, vacant house, and i can’t help but imagine “what could happen in there?” and i imagine a body being found. i pass a man sitting on the steps of a church and i wonder what may have driven him there today? i drive through a park, see a man trotting along a path, and i wonder, “what might happen when the path goes into the woods?” oh, if i had the time to write everything that comes through my brain.
I know exactly what you mean.
that’s because you’re brilliant too. 😉
you just made my day 🙂
Ross, I know you have put a lot of time and energy into this Creativity series and it’s been great to read. Thank you so much for sharing.
I write because if I don’t something feels off in my mind. Writing is a great hobby and brings a certain enjoyment to life for me. I get started at times with just a word or phrase or by creating a problem. If I can’t think of where to start in a scene I let my characters walk into the room in order to see what happens.
I can so relate to the idea that by not writing, you feel off. That is true for me as well. Writing is directly linked to health for many of us.
Love hearing other’s insights and pov! Thank you for sharing!!
Great job Ellie
Thank you for checking in on my poetry site today. I marked myself offically as a “Follower.” In following thread, I write to share my own life experiences in the hope that others may gain insight into their own lives, by my experiences todate in seventy years of living on the planet. Blessings in your individual journey.
Ross, thanks for linking to my post. This has been an outstanding series, which I’ve enjoyed immensely. I love how we writers (of all forms) have come together to share our why’s and why not’s. Thank you for putting this together. Kate
Thanks for participating, Kate!
I write because I have to. Great quotes and comments. Thanks for visiting my blog–I really enjoy this one:)