My Best Post of 2008

December 23, 2008 · by Joanna Paterson · in

Okay, I’ve a confession to  make.  The idea for chosing one best post isn’t original.  I got the idea from a request that came in from Michael Stelzner.  He asked the bloggers in his ‘top 10′ list for their best posts of 2008. (You can see the results here.)

My answer, for that list, was this post: How Purpose Beats the Inner Critic

It seemed like the best introduction I could give new readers to the material and approach I offer here.

Bu it’s not quite what I’d choose to answer my own question.  What was, simply, the best?  What would my answer be, not to new readers, but to you?

My instinct takes me to this: How To Become A Fire Breathing Writing Dragon

It’s far from perfect.

It’s a bit meandering.

It follows on from another post, and a piece of guest writing, a friendship, a book, and a series of conversations.  (I know: it’s possible that’s what makes it good)

But I’m really fond of this post.

I love it because the image, the metaphor of the fire-breathing writing dragons came to me out of nowhere.  It was my muse’s idea.  And yet I carry it with me now and when I lose the way, when I forget what I’m doing or why, well I think about the dragon, and press on.

I know that’s it’s changed the way at least one of you thinks about writing.  And just one is enough.

So for me, this one is simply the best because it reminds me of why our words count.

If you missed it first time round, here’s an extract:

“Oh, but I’m not a writer” I hear people say. What does that matter? Neither am I. It’s what you write, what you say, what you do with your power that counts. I know a lot of professional writers who know how to turn a trick – but not how to breathe fire.

I guess this is what inspiration means for me. It’s the invitation, the challenge, the spark that gives me fire-breathing powers. That makes me feel like I’m breathing in, deep, and breathing out, hard. Telling a truth, sharing something essential, using my power. And the writing that comes from that place, well it does have the power to change things, even if it’s just changing me. (And sometimes changing ourselves is more than enough.)

We don’t need to wait for permission to do this. Hope that someone will come along who has faith, who believes in us, who’ll spot our hidden potential.

We just need to know our own power. The ability to breathe out fire.

And then decide to use it.

This is my contribution to the simply the best group writing project.