In his Ted Talk titled: TheHidden Influence of Social Networks, Nicholas Christakis states that the % in
the variation of how many friends you have is related to your genetic makeup.
Interesting.
It is easier for some to ‘connect’ online with others, or
stand in front of a crowd of people, and be transparent. Others are better at research;
preferring isolated rooms filled with leather bound musty old books, to
conversation with living humans.
Which got me to thinking what influence our genetic makeup
has on our writing. A workshop I like to teach- The Mindset of the Writer- was
prompted by a read of the book, The
Mindset by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D.. The boiled down essence of the book is: ‘it is not just our abilities and talent
that bring us success, but whether we approach our goals with a fixed or growth
mindset’. Think ‘Tortoise and the
Hare’.
The bible tells us that God has gifted us individually with
unique and individual talents. True. Yet sometimes he places a dream inside us
that is bigger than we or our abilities are at the time.
Many an ignorant guidance counselor foiled the dream of a
young person, pounding their square peg into a round hole, because he/she
believed it was best. “You can not make a living painting pretty pictures,
dearie”.
Google ‘starving artist syndrome’.
Fortunately times have changed. With online sales outlets,
like Etsy, Pinterest, and self publishing, creative people are finding a way to
get paid for what they love to do.
Jamie
Ledger posted in his blog speaking to the starving artist syndrome, that
this problem isn’t usually the lack of resources as much as it is the lack of
resourcefulness.
How can a writer become more resourceful and make up for the
lack of what they did not get through genetic inheritance?
Expand your thinking and liberate your mindset.
You’ve long dreamt of becoming a writer. Words come to you. You
have stacks of notebooks full of scratches, and receipts with book ideas and
precious sentences written on their backs.
I suggest you draw a circle of prayer about your writing
dream and then sit down and write, more, and read a little about writing, but
write more.
So what do genes have to do with writing? Something. But not
everything.
Mark Twain said “Writing is easy. All you have to do is
cross out the wrong words.”
Write!
