Be a Determined Writer

Do you remember all the great 'Roses are red, Violets are blue...' poems that made the rounds in grade school years? I wonder if they still do or if our technology-centered world has pushed them aside. I believe the original at my school went like this:

Roses are red

Violets are blue

Sugar is sweet 

and so are you

Of course, kids being kids, they thought up many different versions, keeping the first two lines and trying various others for the final lines. Little did they know that they were writing poetry!

The poem derives from an English nursery rhyme which came from a French novel in the late 18th century. 

Let's look at the version we have here today. 

Roses are red

Violets are blue

You should be writing

and I should be too

During unsettling times like we are experiencing now, writing may be difficult for many. Oh sure, they think about it. They think about it a lot, but the rear end doesn't hit the chair, nor do the fingers fly across the keyboard. When we're under stress, and we certainly are right now, whatever is upsetting to us takes precedence over everything else in our lives. 

That's when determination must appear. You can say that writing is dear to your heart, that it is your life's desire, that it is what you live for. That's fine, but if you arent' determined to stay with your writing, it won't happen. The desire to write is important, but being filled with determination is more so.

If you're under stress of any kind, try to write. It needn't be hundreds of words per day as might be your normal count. If you write even a hundred words each day, it's an achievement. You might not be writing a novel or a memoir or a personal essay. Instead, you can write about what's bothering you. Doing that can be a release of all that has slowly built up inside. If you have an infected wound, the doctor might need to clean it out and/or give you antibiotics to clean up the infection. That small amount of writing you should aim for each day will serve the same purpose. 

Many writers find that, while writing, they can shut out all other parts of their life. You might be sitting at your kitchen table with your laptop but feel like you're in a hidden cabin in the woods. Just you and your words. 

Be a determined writer.