Make writing a habit, practice it as much as you can, and perfect it like an art
Because inspiration doesn’t always have to hit you for you to write.
I was often stuck on the idea that, for me to write, I had to have this amazing idea, this burst of inspiration. And only then would the words come flowing out of me like a river, naturally, finding their perfect place in each sentence.
So I often sat in front of computer screens, with the cursor blinking, again and again, or in front of desks, with pens in my hand, waiting for something, anything, to hit me, and nothing would. In the odd moments when ideas bubbled up inside of me, I opened Notes on my phone, or scribbled it in some napkin, promising myself to write more of it later. Those notes often remained as they were though: just notes, doodles left half-written, half-developed for a future me to work on.
Only now would I learn that writing is a skill. And, as any other skill, you need to practice it to refine it. I see this in my best friend, a songwriter who forces herself to write two songs a week, even if some are trash, her aim to keep improving, to learn from the mistakes of a previous song. So why was I just sitting around, thinking that my talent was enough to make my writing a skill? What did I think made me so special?
I consider this especially nowadays when anyone can publish their stories online. It’s not difficult. Look at Medium for example, it’s one of thousands of platforms for writers and bloggers to post their articles and stories for the world to see. It’s a place where you just publish without the need for Publication approval, without needing to send it off by mail, without the anxiety of awaiting a response.
Here you just post. And that’s it. You wait for the reaction, but that does not stop you from writing.
With this ease of publication though, what we now need is practice. With so many of us, so many like us, with similar stories, better ways of telling them, what makes us stand out from the bunch? Practice. The more you write, the better you become. The more experience you gain (even though it sounds foolish, it is true). You’ll learn more and more, and writing is better than not writing. Writing at least makes sure your talent still exists.
So now, I force myself to write. Even when I’m not in the mood, when I’m crabby, when I’m tired, or just want to watch Netflix. I just open the computer, and force myself to type something out. Because something is better than nothing, even if that something is absolute crap.
Thanks for reading Writers Guild — A Penname publication
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