Don't Be a Sometimes Writer

 

Successful writers are not 'sometime' writers. They don't decide to make April and October the months that they give writing their full attention. They don't write for three days in a row and then not again for three months.

Your goal should be to write something every day. It doesn't need to be 1200 words a day. Even two paragraphs will help you attain that goal. Of course, we will all have days when circumstances make it impossible to write. We hope to have very few days like that.

Today's poster says: 'WRITE until it BECOMES as natural as BREATHING. WRITE until  NOT WRITING makes you ANXIOUS.' 

By writing every day, the process will likely become natural or a real part of you. Writing every day will allow you to say 'It's who I am.' 

I like the last part of the quote that says we should write until not writing makes us anxious. Nobody likes the feeling of tension or anxiety, so strive for that writing every day to feel more peaceful.

How do you manage to write every day? For starters, you need to develop discipline. Making a goal and reaching it are different things altogether. You might start out writing every day for two weeks, and then you miss a day or two. Guess what happens? It's very easy to miss that third day. 

Some writers will need to create time to write. You've heard it said before. Get up an hour, or even half-hour earlier, and write when the house is quiet. Or stay up half an hour later than normal. The one problem I find with that is my mind doesn't want to turn off when I do go to bed. My body wants to go to sleep, my mind wants to keep writing. 

Create other small snippets of time to write. Think of all the places you end up sitting in a chair waiting for someone or something. With a notebook at your side, you can snatch a little more writing time. 

Desire is necessary for you to write on a daily basis. If you don't have the urge, the passion, the desire to write, you are not going to be able to meet your goal. When it becomes drudgery instead of a natural instinct, it's time to evaluate your writing life.

Try to develop these three:  Discipline  Time Management   Desire

Many Dream Of Writing But...

Is your dream to be a writer?

Many people want to be writer and see their words published. Probably there are more who only dream of writing. They'll do it someday. That's what they tell themselves. I know because I was one of those people for far too many years. I let life get in the way, let other things take precedence over that desire to write about so many topics. 

That's only partially true. There was another reason that I never started on my writing journey until I was in my fifties. Fear that I couldn't do it well enough to be published or to be competitive with other writers kept me from dipping my toe in the writing waters. Fear of failure is real and something many who want to write must deal with. 

I finally got over that self-doubt. How? It was partly because I realized time was moving on and I knew if I didn't give it a try soon, I never would. Did I never doubt myself again? I most assuredly did. Many times. But I learned to look ahead rather than back to the beginning moments. I gave myself pep talks. Mentally, not out loud where others might wonder who the heck this woman talking to herself might be. 

We've all heard the quote that tells us Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Start now before there's not much left of a lifetime.

What if you have tried writing and want to do more but all you've done is write a few short stories, a smattering of personal essays and family stories? What if your dream is to write a full length novel? Do exactly what our poster says--take one step every day to achieve that dream. And that means that you'd better write something every day. If all you do is write the outline of the first three chapters, you've taken a step. The next day, do three more for your outline or write a first draft of chapter 1. Take some step toward your goal of writing that novel every day.  Even mentally working out a problem area in your novel is a positive step. 

Why take a step every day? If you miss Monday and Thursday some week, it's going to be easier to miss Tuesday, Thursday and Friday the next week. Before you know it, you're writing only one day a week, then once a month, and finally chuck it all. Your desire wasn't as great as you'd thought, after all.

If your dream is to be a published writer, don't try it unless you're willing to devote time and to work harder than you've worked on some other parts of your life. Make no mistake. Writing is not easy which is exactly why you need to write something every day. It's always easier to do something by bits and pieces than to bite off too much. 

If your dream is to be a poet, write a short poem every day or two verses of a longer poem. The point is that you need to make learning to write poetry and actually writing it a part of every day. It needn't be hours worth devoted to poetry. Any amount of time spent is worthwhile. 

Write or do something related to writing, like reading about it, taking a workshop, meeting with other writers for a critique session part of each day. Dreams do come true if you work at it.