Just Write

Although I have a Twitter account and tweet now and then, what I've found that I like best about it is the links that are posted by people, entities and groups I follow.  Or re-treeted links by people I follow that were originally tweeted by people I don't follow.  Do you follow me on that? ☺

Today was a goldmine that hit me right between the eyes.  Oh, I've been thinking about this, but kept skirting around the edges of the topic and have finally broken it down into two words:  JUST WRITE.

First, here's the link to M. Molly Backes' blog post on How To Write.  She said so much in her blog post that's rarely said by writers who are asked how to write.  She got down to the nitty gritty and explained those two words.  JUST WRITE.

As writers, we tend to overthink things and to complicate the simple things.  Why not?  Words are our business, our career, our love.  We use them, and sometimes we even abuse them.  But the one thing we don't do is run out of them.  According to The Global Language Monitor, there are 1009753 words in the English language.  Yes, that's 1 billion and counting.  And we have the pleasure of using and re-using all 1b+.  So why is it that we too often say that we can't think of anything to write?  Kind of silly, isn't it?

As M. Molly Backes points out in her delightfully insightful answer to a mother's question, writers need to write.  It doesn't matter what we write, we just write.  Remember diaries?  If you had one--or two or twenty--think back about what you wrote in those.  Little things, right?  More than likely, you wrote about something that happened and how you felt about it.  You wrote about people you met.  You wrote observations on all sorts of things.  Try it again.  If you don't enjoy journaling, simply look out your window and describe what you see.

When should you write?  The best answer would be always, but of course that isn't possible.  The next best answer is to set aside a particular time to write and do it each and every day.  Again, write what comes to mind, even if it's gibberish and makes no sense.  The simple act of doing that may slide right into writing something that makes perfect sense.

Once you're writing regularly again, don't forget to READ.  There's nothing like reading that can kickstart your own itch to write.  And who of us can say no to that?

Writers must write. ;)

P.S.  Last Friday I posted that I'd made no forward movement with my writing goal for the week.  By the end of the day, I'd caught up the two days I was behind and also made Friday's goal.  It goes to show that persistence and downright stubborness can eventually produce results.  Now to catch up on today's goal...