Tag: enjoying life

Writer Life Lesson #9: Enjoy Life, But Don’t Forget To Write

If you are a writer, it is most likely that “Writer” is not the only job listed on your resume. A lot of us have other jobs, other hobbies, other things that need to get done first. Every day, I make a To-Do list, and writing is always the last thing on that list. It is after the reading, the studying, the dishes, the laundry. After whatever else I put on that list. Some days, I don’t even write. And that is ok. Sometimes, life needs to come first. Sometimes we writers need to go out and be social, or make sure that the kids are fed before we start writing that next page. Sometimes life needs to come first.

So this week’s lesson is Enjoy Life, But Don’t Forget to Write

So how do we as writers do that? I like to think that I am a strange breed that can only write when everything else is done and I don’t have plans to go out that day. I somehow convince myself that I will want to continue to write and not leave the house because I will lose track of time and completely forget my plans. This rarely ever happens, but I still don’t write on days that I have other plans. I used to feel bad about this, but not so much anymore. I get nervous and excited and that messes with my writing mojo, and that is ok…

…As long as it doesn’t mess with my writing mojo forever.

So how do I get back into the writing habit and get over that “nervous writer’s block”? Well, depending on what it is, or what is making me excited, sometimes I have to wait for it to pass. Sometimes, if it’s a long event or time away from my usual environment, I have to get more comfortable with my new location or event.

I happen to have several examples over the past few weeks, and not a lot of writing to show for it. First, there was Phoenix, which I thought I overcame when I started writing for Camp NaNoWrimo (Which is not going as well as I would have hoped). After that, there were essays and reading for school (which did not go as planned at all). And now there is Researching and tattoo care for a few weeks.

I know I will get back into writing eventually (I can feel the stirrings already, the itch to grab a pen and just write away), but in the meantime, I am enjoying life and what I am learning from it. I deserve a break after writing every day for two months straight.

So if you haven’t written in a while, it’s ok. Breathe and try again tomorrow. Or next week, or next month. The words will come eventually, and they will be better than if you had forced them out. Enjoy life while you can. Writing can  and will wait.

If your story is worthy, it will be written!

Writer Life Lesson #7: Write Without Fear

Ideas are everywhere, but sometimes they seem weird or outlandish, sometimes overdone, or exactly like another writer’s idea. If you’re anything like me, that can be a frightening idea, that could keep you up at night, and make you doubt every word you put on the page. Sure, there are a lot of ideas out there, and some will be similar, but that does not mean we have to fear them. It doesn’t mean we have to fear writing them either for ourselves or in public.

It took me a while to realize that I could write in public without judgement and explain my ideas without feeling like I would be labeled a weirdo. Writing used to be very secretive for me, and it seemed like there were galaxies between every other published author and me, that I could never reach the stars where they were. And then, I decided I didn’t want to be afraid anymore, I decided that I was done being a doormat, that it was time to really exist instead of just catering to everyone else.

The lesson for this week is: Write Without Fear

When you allow yourself to write without fear, it opens a kind of doorway to many other ideas that were once closed off. Ideas that were once too weird you can finally face with the attitude of readiness and excitement. Once you decide to write without fear, it’s like opening a can of worms. There are consequences, but it is all worth the risk.

When you write without fear, you stop being afraid of writing in public. You stop fearing that someone will read your work and laugh in your face. You let your anxieties go, and start feeling more confident in your writing and your skills. You grow as a writer and realize that your fears were a cage, keeping you confined, keeping you naive and complacent with the ways things were.

Real fear is there to tell us, to warn us that something may be dangerous. We fear sharks because they can attack people. We fear death because it is an unknown, a point of no return. We fear writing…. why?

There could be several reasons, but that doesn’t mean they are valid. Sometimes the fear is so strong that it freezes us. I did not write for a week, novel, blog or otherwise, because I was in a new environment and afraid that the people I was staying with would find it strange. I went back to my old ways of answering the question: “You’re a writer?” and I hate that feeling, the noncommittal shrug and the “yeah, I guess”. That was the fear and I hate my fear looking back on it.

Fear will not go away on its own. You, as the writer, the owner of that fear, have to take small steps to release that fear. Whether it’s talking to your fear and telling it to GTFO, or just simply writing a sentence in an uncomfortable place. It might even be answering the question “You’re a writer?” with the response “Hell Yeah I am!”. There are several ways to face our fears, and leave them behind when we write.

Sometimes, just opening the notebook, or the document can be the scariest part of writing

How will you face yours?