The Wannabe Writer's Song

Every writer was once a wannabe writer singing that song over and over. I wannabe a writer, oh Lordy, how I wannabe a writer! It's pretty easy to want that status but actually going after it is a different story.

I wanted to be a writer for the vast majority of my life, but I did little to make it happen. I gave myself one excuse after another. They were all pretty valid reasons--at least, I thought they were. Working while attending college left precious little time to pursue my desire. Next came marriage, still teaching and running a household for two. Still wanted to write but....  In a few years, I had quit teaching but was a stay at home mom to two children and helping my husband in his career by handling the social end of things connected to his job. Even so, I did take time to do other things I enjoyed. I played Bridge, read a lot, quilted baby quilts for a hospital gift shop, was a hospital volunteer. But I didn't try writing. I still thought about it but something held me back. It wasn't until we landed in a new community as empty nesters and where it was hard to make friends that I finally pursued my longtime desire.

Guess what? I wish with all my heart that I'd done so years and years sooner. But that's beyond happening so no use fretting now.

If you're a wannabe writer, don't give yourself a string of excuses like I did. Part of the reason we do that is fear. What if I am a terrible writer? I can almost guarantee that you will not be an award winning writer right from the git-go. It's a rare person who can achieve such a status. You won't become a good writer until you spend endless amounts of time writing. Almost every writer I know cringes a bit when he/she looks back at their early efforts. New writers generally commit all the no-no things possible. They overwrite, they are redundant, they forget the sensory details, they tell too much, they forget the use of dialogue--all kinds of things that they correct little by little as their writing life progresses.

I like the end of the quote above It's that easy, and that hard. I've found that most worthwhile things don't come easy. You have to work at it and maybe you need to work at it for a very long time. The important thing is that you must start. Yep, sit yourself down at the keyboard and put one word after another until you find a stopping place. Not gonna be a masterpiece, but it will be something you wrote. Progress! You don't need to show it to anyone unless you want to. You don't need to ask for a critique unless you want to grow as a writer. You don't need to do it again unless you really mean the words of the wannabe writer song.