Yesterday was the Fourth of July, and I'd walked a few blocks to watch the night's fireworks. I was feeling frustrated about not finding as much inspiration for what I wrote. My writing was feeling more like a chore and less like a passion. I wanted writing something to feel as good as many people felt watching multicolored explosions in the night sky.
From what I observed, fireworks focus on powerful feelings and amplifying them to hit people harder and longer - feelings of freedom, wonder, spontaneity, and even power. Firing them for whole communities also spreads those feelings to many people.
Then I remembered good writing and good fireworks are, to me, basically the same. Aren't those two traits, amplifying and sharing powerful emotions, already key traits of strong writing? That's why thousands of people read fantasy novels like Game of Thrones - it's sharing those same powerful emotions with lots of people.
The writing I enjoyed most started with a powerful feeling, and the arguments and research came after. As logical as others have called me, my favorite writing from myself or others was always about self-expression as well as learning.
Each writing piece is like setting off a firework in my mind, and maybe even someone else's. What more motivation do I need to keep doing it?