Writers Write
Tuesday morning I opened my notebook to write. I had forgotten where I had left off in that particular story, so I read all the previous sections to figure out how I could continue. I ended up with: " 'Freddy,' she said."
I ended my writing for the day there in favor of trimming the split ends out of my hair for over two hours.
It's hard to write. It's hard to do anything right, but when one sits down to write the right words a sudden instinct to bolt takes hold. Sometimes the feeling can give way to a desire to write something, anything, down on the page.
And maybe that's what's supposed to happen. Writers write. Can someone properly be called a writer if they don't write?
I want to be a writer. I should write. Every single day I need to write something so that I can stay in practice. An extra incentive is the expertise gained by practice over time. Not, perhaps, a true expert, a concept which a BBC News Magazine article explores, but somewhere closer to the best one can be. Practice can only improve the skill practiced.
In his fantastic memoir On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Stephen King gives lots of advice about writing. He is one of the most famous and prolific writers of our time. How does he write so well and so much? He writes a ten page minimum every day, even on days when he definitely doesn't feel like writing. The exception was the few weeks right after his horrific accident,
I am not going to be a Stephen King. It sometimes takes me an hour and a half to write a single paragraph. Other times, a good page can take me two hours. I often don't have that time.
But if I want to be a writer, I should put the time I have into my craft to practice, flex, and generally improve my writing. I will figure out what works and what doesn't (for me) and document the world around me, sometimes in stories, sometimes in non-fiction.
I have to write, especially when it difficult.
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