I originally posted the following on The Inkwell blog, but I’m sharing it here now because it’s still relevant and I ran out of time to blog today. ๐
Audre Lorde once said, “There are no new ideas. There are only new ways of making them felt.” I believe she was right about that. Solomon said something similar in the first chapter of Ecclesiastes, “It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.” (NLT)
Do you know what I love about writing? Ideas are all around me, and they’re limitless. When I see the trees begin to produce flowers in the Spring, I’m reminded of my personal growth that bursts into bloom after a long, dry, wintry spell of life. In that same Spring when we receive a surprise snowstorm and are forced to slow down and hibernate in our homes for a day or two, I consider the ways I am too busy, overly committed, and hard-headed to realize that I’m in need of a day of rest and reflection. These epiphanies can’t help but flow into my writing and inspire me to look at what I have to say with new eyes.
As writers, we are designed to take what we see, experience, and dream, and find engaging ways to offer it to our readers. There are no new ideas, only new ways of making them felt. That’s one of my basic goals, to make people feel. What ideas are brewing in you? What inspires you to write? How do those things shape your writing? What does your writing make people feel?
Nice post. Thought provoking.
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I’m not sure I agree with there not being any new ideas – my blog post tonight might be a tangential response because I’ve too much to say to tap it all out on the cell.
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Love that filing system. Thinking about implementing it myself. ๐
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L., Thank you. I’m still thinking about it.
Don, can’t wait to hear your thoughts. It’s possible I’m wrong, and maybe I need to be a little more choosey with my word choices. To clarify, I think new ideas are really new variations of old ideas. If that’s true, then are they really “new” ideas? I concede that even the word “idea” can be difficult to quantify. but I digress…let’s hear your idea on ideas. ๐
Jan, I thought it was funny.
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[…] My friend, Niki, recently posted this irritatingly thought-provoking quote on her blog.ย It’s the weekend. I don’t want to engage my brain. At all. Damn that quote for forcing me to think. […]
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