Ren Cummins
First of all, lose the word "aspiring." Do, or do not. There is no aspire.
I had a professor in college – he was literally that teacher who taught Chaucer from memory, and looked a bit like a cross between a nutcracker doll and an older, wiser, Shakespeare. Good man. Tough teacher. He and I spoke one day and he told me the same thing I tell other authors: education will give you the framework, but only life will give you your stories. The stories you want to write – the lessons, the lives, the hearts and minds that make their way into your blank pages – exist out there, waiting to be drawn into your eyes and ears and feasted upon in your soul. Those elements can only exist in a life lived, as they pass through your readied mind. Live your life, learn everything and watch it all. Listen.
And don’t ever stop writing.
I had a professor in college – he was literally that teacher who taught Chaucer from memory, and looked a bit like a cross between a nutcracker doll and an older, wiser, Shakespeare. Good man. Tough teacher. He and I spoke one day and he told me the same thing I tell other authors: education will give you the framework, but only life will give you your stories. The stories you want to write – the lessons, the lives, the hearts and minds that make their way into your blank pages – exist out there, waiting to be drawn into your eyes and ears and feasted upon in your soul. Those elements can only exist in a life lived, as they pass through your readied mind. Live your life, learn everything and watch it all. Listen.
And don’t ever stop writing.
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