I wish that subject line was a Laura original. Alas, it is not; it belongs to Nietzshe. This is the sad lot of writers; to spend their days wishing to have written something that someone else got to first.
The reason I love this line is that how you interpret it depends entirely on your outlook.
I think it’s very funny, because I think Nietzshe was writing ironically. A lot of people don’t read it that way, and see it instead as Nietzshe writing as a pretentious ass.
My world view is that writing, while precious and beautiful, is also a place for fun and mischief. Some folks think that writing is sacrosanct, to be taken seriously at all times.
And that’s OK; there’s room for both. But I am already painfully earnest a lot of the time, and giving myself permission to have a giggle when I’m working has saved many pieces from becoming suffocatingly serious.
I think fun is just massively underrated in the creative world.
So much of the joy of writing, especially if you write for a living, is found in the little moments you can play with just to amuse yourself.
It might be making up a new word, or throwing in a rhyme, a double-entendre, or a metaphor that startles the reader.
No one else might even notice, and that’s fine, but if it gives you a boost, throw in that private joke with yourself.
People are attracted to other people having fun.
Writing to amuse yourself is going to get readers’ attention, and once they’re hooked, you can slide right into your grander point.
This book is going to be riddled with these moments. I hope other people find them funny too, but here’s the thing: your writing is for you. Not for everyone else. So it doesn’t really matter whether they notice your fun or not.
Even when you’re writing for clients, it’s up to you how to frame that material. The content might originally be theirs, but the final piece is yours, and everyone else will be glad to have your take on it.
So have some fun with the work. Get a little silly. It doesn’t always have to be so serious, even when it is.