Writers--Take One Step at a Time

Our poster today is meant to encourage, and I think it does. That little girl's goal is getting to the top of the stairway. Each step is more difficult as her little legs are getting tired. She knows that there is something special at the top of the stairway, so she keeps going, one step at a time.

As writers, we're doing much the same. We make our writing journey one step at a time. There is no skipping steps to reach our writing goals at the top. We get tired. We become frustrated and stop for a while. The battle is moving up those steps one at a time, but the joy is the goal we reach at the top. 

Any worthwhile job should make us work harder to reach our goal. For most writers, publication is what they strive for. A writer doesn't just make a decision to write a story and have it published. If only it were that easy! There are many steps along the way:  the story idea, first draft, proofreading, revising, editing, final draft, possible critique, finding a market, submitting, waiting for an answer. Then start all over again with another story idea. 

Added to the above is the continuing learning cycle that we should embrace to become a better writer. The writer who writes one story after another, then submits, then back to the keyboard for another story is not increasing his/her writing knowledge. Learning about the craft of writing should be a continuous chain. We should not reach a point where we feel like there is nothing more to learn. There is always something  to add to your writing know-how. I find that I always come home from writing workshops or conferences with some golden nugget that helps me be a better writer. If you're lucky, you might learn a handful of new ideas from a conference to enhance your writing skill

Reaching our goal of publication and writing success is not a quick journey. We must take it a step at a time. The longer we write, the more writing information we have, the easier climbing those steps will be. If we shun learning more about writing, the steps can be much more difficult to climb, the goal harder to reach. 

Those writing exercises I (and other writing gurus advise) will make your legs stronger and the steps easier to climb. You can help yourself to making your goal easier to reach, but it's up to you to do it and take it a step at a time.

(NOTE: THE NEXT POST WILL BE ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29. I'M TAKING A COUPLE DAYS OFF.)