Many Dream Of Writing But...

Is your dream to be a writer?

Many people want to be writer and see their words published. Probably there are more who only dream of writing. They'll do it someday. That's what they tell themselves. I know because I was one of those people for far too many years. I let life get in the way, let other things take precedence over that desire to write about so many topics. 

That's only partially true. There was another reason that I never started on my writing journey until I was in my fifties. Fear that I couldn't do it well enough to be published or to be competitive with other writers kept me from dipping my toe in the writing waters. Fear of failure is real and something many who want to write must deal with. 

I finally got over that self-doubt. How? It was partly because I realized time was moving on and I knew if I didn't give it a try soon, I never would. Did I never doubt myself again? I most assuredly did. Many times. But I learned to look ahead rather than back to the beginning moments. I gave myself pep talks. Mentally, not out loud where others might wonder who the heck this woman talking to herself might be. 

We've all heard the quote that tells us Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Start now before there's not much left of a lifetime.

What if you have tried writing and want to do more but all you've done is write a few short stories, a smattering of personal essays and family stories? What if your dream is to write a full length novel? Do exactly what our poster says--take one step every day to achieve that dream. And that means that you'd better write something every day. If all you do is write the outline of the first three chapters, you've taken a step. The next day, do three more for your outline or write a first draft of chapter 1. Take some step toward your goal of writing that novel every day.  Even mentally working out a problem area in your novel is a positive step. 

Why take a step every day? If you miss Monday and Thursday some week, it's going to be easier to miss Tuesday, Thursday and Friday the next week. Before you know it, you're writing only one day a week, then once a month, and finally chuck it all. Your desire wasn't as great as you'd thought, after all.

If your dream is to be a published writer, don't try it unless you're willing to devote time and to work harder than you've worked on some other parts of your life. Make no mistake. Writing is not easy which is exactly why you need to write something every day. It's always easier to do something by bits and pieces than to bite off too much. 

If your dream is to be a poet, write a short poem every day or two verses of a longer poem. The point is that you need to make learning to write poetry and actually writing it a part of every day. It needn't be hours worth devoted to poetry. Any amount of time spent is worthwhile. 

Write or do something related to writing, like reading about it, taking a workshop, meeting with other writers for a critique session part of each day. Dreams do come true if you work at it.