Romance Books '4' Us

Your Inner Voice

I wrote this column for work, my day job, and I felt strongly about it. But, I realize it applies to writing also. So now, a little inspiration for everyone, but especially for the writer, who sometimes has little praise.

The inner voice—each of us has it calling to us. It is that part within that is so essential it drives our very life force. Without it we’d wither like flowers cut from the vine. Yet how many of us—are you one of them—ignore what the inner voice tells us?

Here is a list of popular reasons for ignoring the chatty inner self:
1) Good decisions only come from your head.
2) The right decision is the one most conventional and which encounters the least amount of resistance.
3) Why fight for something when you may have to make up ground to get where you were monetarily or socially?
4) Your family doesn’t approve.
5) All your friends will desert you.

Okay, there is such a thing as self-preservation. But that inner voice—ahh, she is rarely wrong. Think of it as your moral compass, one that always points true north. She tells you to stand up for what you believe in. She cries and mourns when you turn your back on her. You know when you go against her by her undeniable yank on you, urging you towards what you really should be doing. She is so annoying, especially if deep down you really desire to do what she says. That inner voice pushes you forward, pleading. She desperately wants you to act on what she tells you. It is time to weigh the odds. It is time to decide what’s right.

We all need something to believe in. We all need to feel special, not one day a year but with regularity and on a weekly basis. We all need to be driven by passion that requires we follow our hearts, a true love of purpose moderated by action steps to take each of us to our true home. As Glenda says in The Wizard of Oz, “You have always had it within you.”

So what do you believe in? Are you passionate about it? I hope so—you should. You have made and continue to make it what it is.

I believe in writing romantic fiction. My inner voice is doing the boogie. Will your inner voice dance with mine?

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Bobbye Terry's latest release is The Shadow Knows in the Briny Bay Series of mystery novellas. Watch for A Murder in Every Port, the next in the series in early 2013 from Turquoise Morning Press.