Writers--Stuff Happens!

In regard to the poster quote for today--the things that occur in our writing world are catalysts for change and growth. I'm glad there are two words given in the quote--change and growth. We can change for the better or for the worse, but growth indicates that our change is hopefully for the better. 

If you have an opportunity to go to a writing conference and you choose to stay home and read a book, you lose a chance to grow as a writer. If you make the effort to attend the conference, which might mean scraping up the funds and making travel arrangements, your writing life will change for the better.

What if you are at the library and you scan the shelf of books that concentrate on the craft of writing but you see a display of new romance novels nearby? Off you go to grab the one that appeals most to you, the writing books forgotten. That novel may be entertaining but it probably won't help you grow as a writer nearly as much as the writing books would. 

If you start a blog with great enthusiasm, then slack off and post only when you're in the mood, you won't grow as a blog writer. Besides that, you'll lose readers faster than an old slot machine delivered coins into your outstretched hands when you hit the jackpot. 

Write something every day. What about that bit of advice we've all heard many times? If you make a concerted effort to do so, you'll grow as a writer. If you write once a week, or once a month, you might change your writing life completely. It could dwindle down to nothing. The longer you don't write, the easier it is to not do it at all.

Granted--there are things and times in our life when events or situations do change our writing world. If a spouse has a terminal illness, a writer is going to have to put writing on hold for some time. Or if the writer has an accident or a new baby or visitors who come for a month, writing might have to be put on hold.

In a perfect world, writers would concentrate on writing daily, do exercises frequently to learn more about our craft, go to many conferences and workshops, read myriad books on writing. Whatever interruption we have in our writing life, we need to see it through and then attempt to get back into the swing of writing again--writing and all those other things that help us grow as writers. 

Store some of those experiences that keep you from writing in your memory bank to use once you're back on your writing journey. Don't feel guilty that you had to put writing on hold. Use whatever happened to continue to grow as a writer, putting one foot in front of the other on your writing journey.