Tolstoy On Writer's Task

Quote for the Week

I really like this quotation that I'm sharing with you today. Leo Tolstoy wrote: "The task of the writer is to seize the reader by the back of the neck and force him to love life."

Do you think that's true? I think it's a rather poetic way of saying writers create worlds larger than life, and, in doing so, they show the reader what life is all about.

Writers pump up the conflict so that when the protagonist wins, that triumph is immensely satisfying because great odds had to be overcome. That's living fully. The phrase "to love life" means to fully participate in one's life, experiencing the joys and the sorrows equally because to do otherwise is to exist in a lesser state, a kind of half life.

Most of us go out of our way to avoid living in the moment, experiencing all that life throws at us without dulling that pain with medication, alcohol, illegal substances, or even food. We don't want to embrace the sorrow, disappointments, and challenges.

We don't rock the boat because we don't want to risk our fragile peace and tranquility. People who live this way haven't learned the value of the struggle.

Takeaway Truth

What would you do if you didn't think you could fail? Would you climb out of your rut? Try something new that might be risky? If you can read about it, living the adventure vicariously, then why not do it in real life?