Be a Writer, Not a Dreamer

Do you dream about the book you'll write someday? About the memoir that is taking up all the space in your mind, wanting to get out? Do you look forward to the day you'll finally be published? Is the perfect poem another dream you have?

There's nothing wrong with dreaming about what you hope will happen in your future writing world. These dreams are what inspires us. The problem comes when you spend all your time dreaming and never writing one word of that hoped-for project.

It happens to more writers than you might think. I've heard it said more than once that 'writers are dreamers' which may very well be true. We have to 'dream' up our stories, don't we? We're often thinking about what we want to write while in the middle of a family dinner or at a party or on the subway. So much so that we might miss our stop or not hear a question someone asks. 

One reason writers only think about a new writing project and don't start working on it is that old nemesis, fear. Mr. Fear can get such a tight grip on us sometimes that we feel we may never write again. Getting over that awful feeling is not always so easy. Keep reminding yourself that nothing horrible is going to happen if your dreamed-of book doesn't get published. It's crummy, but it's not the end of the world. There's no reason to fear failure. We learn through our failures. If this book doesn't make it, it's possible the next one will.

Nothing will happen unless you begin. How you do it is up to you. Is there a certain scene you keep thinking about that will be in your memoir? Then forget the beginning and write that particular scene. Write and rewrite until you're happy with it. Save it to put in your manuscript at the right time. If you like to write from an outline, make one. That's a fine beginning. 

If writing Once upon a time...will get the juices flowing, then start that way. Nothing says you have to keep it in the revision and editing process. Or give yourself a prompt like I remember...

Try the circle and spokes exercise. Put one word that describes what you want to write inside a circle. Then draw straight lines from the circle and write all the words that might relate to your topic. As many as you can think of. Hopefully, those words will be of some inspiration, a place to begin your dreamed-of project. 

Use any and all methods to help you begin. Once you get started, it's highly likely that you'll keep writing and keep writing until you have a first draft. The longer you spend dreaming about that book you hope to write, the less likely you are to actually sit down and do it.