Writing Mentally, Not Physically

 

Today's poster will probably make you smile, but there is truth in it and something to ponder. 

Writers could be classified as daydreamers because of all the writing thoughts swirling in their minds. When they have a blank look and walk through crowds, not acknowledging others, they aren't being rude. They're most likely thinking about a work in progress, one that is not finished. Or perhaps, they are suddenly getting a story idea and are pondering on same. 

Writers can sit at a concert, hearing and appreciating the music, but also working out a story idea. I did exactly that while attending a symphony performance one evening many years ago. The music seemed to open the door to the story for me, and the short fiction was published after going through the actual writing process.

If you see a writer in the grocery store aisle, and he/she passes by, he/she is probably deep in thought about a writing project. Writers write mentally sitting on a bus or commuter train, at a ballgame, or while waiting to see a doctor or dentist. Writers acquire the ability to pay attention to two things at once. They have active minds that concentrate on more than one thing at a time. Occasionally, the story idea might take precedence, and the writer is concentrating only on it. 

Writers can be writing in their mind while doing rote household tasks. When I iron, which happens less and less, my mind is free. The same with unloading the dishwasher. Or dusting the tabletops. Our hands are busy, but our minds are free to think about our writing. And many other things, too.

Once we have a story idea, we don't always run to the computer and begin the first draft. Instead, we ponder the idea in our minds for days, even weeks, before ever starting to write that all-important first draft. 

There are times when we can't come up with that very important first line. Instead of staring at the computer screen, we try out several in our minds. When one appeals or feels satisfying, then it's time to hie ourselves to the keyboard and tap those keys to see the sentence in print rather than in your mind. 

So, when you see a writer away from the keyboard, out in public, know that they might be writing, just not typing. It's a matter of writing mentally, not physically.

In Writing--Faith Over Fear

 

 

Writers make mistakes as they move along their writing journey. None of us are totally immune to doing something we wished we hadn't in our writing life. 

Sometimes we hurry the process, and it shows. We don't present our best work when we move too quickly. Maybe we toss something in we think is correct but hadn't taken time to do a little checking or research. We could get called on it by a reader. We might grab a title quickly out of the air only to think of a much better one when it's too late. 

These are only a few of the mistakes we make. The more often that an error comes up, the more we fear moving on, or even trying to do so. This is when we need to give ourselves a pep talk. It's when we need to encourage faith in our own abilities. We need to put faith over fear. 

One of the best ways I know to increase your faith in yourself and decrease your fears in your writing life is to make two lists. List A should be made of all the things you fear about writing. In List B, show the pluses in your writing life, the good things that have happened, and what you feel are your strengths as a writer. On which list should you concentrate? That's a no-brainer question. 

We need to pump up our own confidence level and we should do it on a daily basis. Maybe then, we can start believing in ourselves. If you dwell daily on your mistakes and your fears about writing, what do you think will happen? Yes, you'll start convincing yourself that you cannot write well, that all you do is flub up. 

Learn to have faith in yourself. If you don't have it, no one else will have faith in you either. Editors and readers figure it out fairly easily when you write without confidence in what you can produce.

Let's go back to those lists. I said to concentrate on List B, but you might also want to go through the first list and address those fears, one by one. Ask yourself if the fear is justified or are you responsible for creating your own fear? If the fear is justified, what can you do about it? How can you change whatever that fear happens to be? 

Work at having faith over fear, and you'll be both a happier writer and a better one.