Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Is the Write Idea the Right Idea for You?

by Mark David Gerson

There are many good ideas out there in the ethers: ideas for books and screenplays, ideas for songs, articles, and poems. Your friends will suggest them. Your partner will suggest them. Your logical mind will suggest them.

You'll see something or hear about something and you'll think, "Wouldn't that make a great story?" Maybe it would. Maybe it's yours to write. Maybe it's not.

There's a difference between a good idea and the right idea, between an idea that is anyone's for the taking and one that is uniquely yours, one that's right for you, right now.

Before you launch into a frenzy of research and writing, ask yourself: Is this what I’m called to write? Is this the call of my muse, the story only I can tell? Or is this anyone's? Is this another good idea or is this the right idea for me?

Anyone can take a good idea and give it shape and substance. Some can do it better than you, some not as well.

Nobody can take the idea that sings to your soul and perform the kind of alchemy on it that you can. Only you can transform that idea into the one-of-a-kind gem it longs to be. That is why it, through your muse, called to you...chose you.

Accept that you were chosen. Perform your magic. Let the right idea be the idea you write. Right now.

Mark David Gerson has taught writing as a creative and spiritual pursuit for more than 15 years in the U.S. and Canada. Author of The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write (from which this article is adapted) and of the award-winning visionary novel, The MoonQuest: A True Fantasy, Mark David has also recorded The Voice of the Muse Companion, a 2-CD set of guided meditations for writers. Mark David's screenplay adaptation of The MoonQuest is now in active development with Albuquerque's Anvil Springs Entertainment. You can reach Mark David, access his blogs, and read more about his books through his Web site, www.markdavidgerson.com. His books
are available at selected U.S. bookstores and online through
www.lightlinesmedia.com and Amazon.com.

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