“Since I am nothing but literature and can and want to be nothing else, my job will never take possession of me, it may, however, shatter me completely, and this is by no means a remote possibility”. When I first read this quote I was taken aback. The revelation - the realizing - that this is not only Kafka’s own predisposition. But a story of many writers (inclusive of all creatives for that matter). C.S Lewis was a history academic. Stephen King was a highschool teacher. Leigh Bardugo was a makeup artist. And me? Well I am a measly law student with a 60k debt. I am a part of the many poor passionists who are shackled by reality. The need for a secure job. Money. To fulfill others' expectations of you. 

Now, I plan to tell you some writing lessons I learned this year. 3 in fact. But I must tell you, before I start, that if you wish for a ‘Writing Reflection’ of 2024, I implore you to watch my last YouTube video on my channel here.It is a comprehensive biography of 2024 and my reflections about writing which may give context of how I came to access such writing ‘wisdom’ (mostly just through crying at my keyboard at 11pm). Also see below the blog for a little gallery of my 2024 recap if you’re interested! But now, with that out of the way, let’s get onto my writing 3 lessons. 

Do you know when you get an idea for your book, and you have no idea how you discovered it? That’s most likely creative intuition – the magic power all writers possess. But what exactly is it? And how can we get better at it?

I have often wondered, as I read my favorite author’s works, how much I can correlate their work with their soul. It seems a futile question. You may be thinking, ‘Of course it is their soul!’ or ‘What else is a reflection of an author’s soul if not their book’. But it still begs another question – of whether this ‘soul sharing’ is completely at their discretion…do they have a choice?