Drowning in the Literary Universe

I will have to say that I have been pretty proud of myself lately. Not for the product (we're on the subject of writing here) I have turned out, but merely for the fact that I have been keeping my brain immersed in the literary universe pretty well. Distractions have been exactly that, only minor distractions that have not pulled me away too far, or too long from my train of thought. That being said, one of the ways I have been achieving this goal of surrounding myself with literary thoughts is by reading various articles by authors for authors around the Internet. I have discovered a few articles by an author named Joseph E. Wright that are simple enough, but have had a pretty big impact on the way I look at my writing. Apart from pointing out that verbs can easily, quickly, and concisely express just as much as an adjective; and trying to convince the editing world that fiction writers have the right to make up places, things and even words, he has said through his articles a rather inspiring thing:

As a writer of fiction, you need only keep one eye on your style, and only an occasional eye on the rules set down, but you must at all times keep both eyes wide open and directed towards that which you hope to pursue, and by that I mean pursue that noblest of trades: the writer who leads others to far-off lands in this world and in other worlds; the trade of Dickens or Tolstoy; of Bradbury or Poe, of Cartland or Hemingway; and above all, the trade of ________(please insert your name here.)

Perhaps it takes a writer or an avid reader to appriciate that statement fully, but it made me feel proud again for a breif moment to be who and what I am. I can remember many stories and books from throughout my lifetime, vivid fantastic places, frightning and awefull villians, heros to look up to, and lands to sweep you away from your worries. That is a great and nobel calling, some may think it childish, but no one can tell me they do not enjoy a good story be it movie or book that makes time stand still and the world melt away into something new that makes you feel like your seeing a world for the first time.

A short comment from the religious persepective on the value of our tallents:

Pertaining to the death of Christ I realized that His sacrifice expressed more to us than we are often initially aware of. I believe we all realize on many levels that His sacrifice expesses something about our self-worth. For me it shows that my person, my skills, and my tallents are worth saving. That means to Him they are worth the world hearing. Exactly how would we appear to Him then if we went through life hating, resenting or ignoring our tallents? (See? I told you I would keep it short).