Tuesday's Inspiration -- Courage and Creativity

When one thinks of creativity the mad genius comes to mind. Is creativity akin to madness. One reads about the number of artists who commit suicide or end up drug or alcohol ridden, but there are also many writers who live for long years and continue to produce works. Could the difference be that those who write for many years have somehow discovered the symbols that are meaningful to them and ignore the ones that aren't?

When writing I often don't think about those things that are my symbols, a dark cave, bright jewels? What about you, what symbols do you find creeping into your writing?

Does wanting a happy ending make a creative project less than one that's steeped in tragedy? Seeing justice done whether it's in the hero and heroine finding love or the criminal being brought to justice, or the evil villain defested. These are the focus of what I create.

Creativity comes of struggle. I've read books that are well written but the characters have little struggle and I'm disappointed when I reach the end because I'm searching for some struggle and find none. So think about your characters when you write. Is there a chance they could lose all they strive for? If not what is the purpose of writing their story? The struggle is important and what the characters learn about life and about themselves means the writer has either learned or is learning these things. So look at your stories and see if there is a way to increase the characters' struggles before they find the happy or satisfactory ending. All endings don't have to be happy but they must leave the reader saying, "yes."