Why You Should Write Now

It’s easy to put off writing. Those thoughts in your head will keep, you think. Your ideas aren’t ready. You can’t quit your day job. There are thousands of excuses, but mostly one result: the years roll by, and a large part of you remains dormant. You wonder what would have happened, had you pursued your dreams. You pin your hopes on the future. Your best consolation is: “it can’t be helped.”

“There are thousands of excuses, but mostly one result…”

I would like to tell you a different story.

My best friend was writing from the time that she was a young girl. She, like most children, blithely ignored everything that fetters us reasonable adults. She began as an imperfect writer, as we all do. She kept going, and she got better. It wasn’t a realistic career goal. She didn’t care, she wrote because she loved it. Nobody read what she wrote. She did care, but she kept writing so that she could one day publish.

As children, we wrote together, and her passion was infectious. Most of my best childhood memories center around the stories we created, the fun we had writing them, editing them, and even making fun of them. I loved to live inside her stories. The characters she created are as real to me today as the day she created them. I pestered her ceaselessly to continue, as I couldn’t wait for that next chapter. She had become an incredible writer, my favorite author ever. And here she was, just a teenager!

She had many other passions and pursuits. She was a dedicated student, and involved in various teams and activities. Yet even as a team captain, a valedictorian, and an athlete, she found time for writing.

I know, I know, we can’t all be superhumans. My point is, the excuse that we don’t have enough time for writing is just that: an excuse. In fact, making time for what you love will energize you in every area of your life. So there goes that excuse. But why should you write now?

“The excuse that we don’t have enough time for writing is just that: an excuse.”

Allow me to finish my story.

My talented best friend had done a lifetime of writing by the time she was in her late teens. She had authored (although not published) five completed novels, and countless poems, short stories, and song lyrics. She showed no signs of slowing down.

At age 19, she was suddenly diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. She died less than two short years after that. At her funeral, there were few speakers. She unknowingly conducted her own funeral, wowing us with the creative efforts of a short, but not idle, lifetime. Not many had to speak for her. She left us speechless. What an incredible life. Nothing can atone for the loss of such a bright young person. Yet she left us all glad that she wasted so little time.

Her mother published five of her works posthumously, and pushes tirelessly to promote them. The one final excuse for not writing, that no one would ever read what she wrote, was finally overcome. I’m so glad she never let that fear stop her. How many times have we given up too early? Or worse yet, never even started at all?

“How many times have we given up too early?”

We hear “life is short” a lot. “Seize the day” can get a little bit obnoxious. You know what else can get obnoxious? Your excuses. You’re alive. If you’re reasonably healthy enough to read this, you’re healthy enough to write. (Read The Diving Bell and the Butterfly if you need more convincing about that. The ability to blink only one eyelid does not excuse you from writing anymore, apparently.) There are reasonable obstacles that stand in the way of writing. I understand that. But you’ve got no excuse not to work around them.

“You’re alive.”

That is one reason why I became a writing coach. I desperately want to help people write, to feel free to become their creative selves, to produce gold. I want would-be writers to have fewer regrets, and more artistically productive lives. The other reason that I became a writing coach professionally is because, without knowing it, I had been one all along.

My best friend taught me the alchemic beauty of working with a writer; supporting, encouraging, and critiquing. It is an addiction I have never been able to get over. The memory of her life inspires me every day.

Whatever it takes to get over the excuses and obstacles, you need to do it. You need to write now, because for all you know, now is all you have. Someday very soon, all this “now” will be the only past you leave behind.

“Now is all you have.”

If you need help to accomplish your writing goals, please check out: www.EverlastingWriting.com