What Makes The Difference

If something is stopping you from becoming the writer you want to be, then change it.

In response to the very valid excuses you may come up with for not writing, I have created a list of alternate realities for writers that write.

• Almost all writers have day jobs, and they still manage to produce some writing. Why can’t you? Writers make the time to practice what they love, writing.

• If eating dinner exhausts you then you are eating too much, or too fast, or you need to get your body moving not long after your meal. Just like the fact that you can eat smaller portions more slowly to get full, you can get off your butt to induce the energy it takes to get your mind moving again. It really is that simple. And don’t forget that consuming alcohol and then eating leads to passing out. If you’re a drinker, you might want to think about skipping happy-hour in order to have the energy to devote your time to something you might find more meaningful.

• Writer’s have a special place they go to write. They insist on the time spent alone in that place in order for them to get any writing done. They go outside, they go to parks, coffee shops, closets, nooks, garages, sheds, bedrooms, spare rooms, bathrooms, wherever they can find, because writing, to them, is that important.

• It is unacceptable for another person to require your attention 100% of the time. Writer’s need their space and set their boundaries accordingly.

• There is always time to pursue the passion for writing, because you just finally decide to make the time and you make sacrifices for it, and that’s the way it is if you are a writer.

• Writer’s write. It is not always what they would like to write that they’re busy at. Writer’s write all the time to hone their skill and keep their creativity flowing. It’s called practice. They write about the weather, they journal about their day, they write poetry, practice with writer’s prompts, they use visual aids, they brainstorm ideas and write those down too. They are busy at the business of writing and therefore always improving their skill.

• All a writer needs is a pencil, a pen, or something that will make marks and the world can be their canvas. Walls, cement, napkins, paper sacks, wood, whatever will accept the words they need to write will do. A writer writes.

• A writer loves the act of writing and sacrifices other things in order to do it, often what they sacrifice is sleep.

• Writer’s make a separate schedule to do their research. They not only research their ideas, they research their craft, to improve their writing skills. 

• Writer’s brainstorm the ideas they are mulling over and write them down. Sometimes splitting them into a layout that serves as their writing template.

• Writer’s aren’t always in the mood to write and much of what they write is crap. The important thing is that they are exercising their skill and getting better at their craft by showing up to practice it. They will write about whatever comes to mind just to get some words on paper and call it good. Writing is writing, whatever you write about. A writer knows that the book they are writing is just a draft, and probably the first draft, so it will suck anyway. There will be plenty of future sessions spent editing their work, and polishing their previous writing.

Know that nothing will change unless you go about the task of making it change. A person can talk about the way things ought to be for miles and get nowhere if no real action is taken.

The non-writer should commit themselves to writing and dedicate time to it on a regular basis if they want to be a writer. The goal is not out of your reach, but the tomorrow your waiting for will never be here, so do yourself the favor of starting today.

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Don’t get discouraged, for those of you who aren’t writing yet, you are a writer waiting to happen.

What do you think would help get someone back into the writing habit?

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