Photograph by Pink Sherbert Photography
Reverb10: Today's prompt from Leo Babauta of Zen Habits:
What do you do each day that doesn't contribute to your writing - and can you eliminate it?
I started writing very recently, after having a vague urge to write for many years but never knowing what to write. I think I always thought that one day I would miraculously have a fantastic idea and then I would write a book.
What I have come to realise is that all this time I just needed to pick up a pen and start writing. The inspiration comes the more you write. I have wasted too much time waiting to have something earth shattering or deep and meaningful to say, when I should have just been getting on with it. I came to this realisation only recently, and I have started this blog, where I write several times a week. I may not be writing anything of great importance, just my thoughts and things that are going on in my life, but I am developing a writing habit and I hope it will help me find my voice. I am also doing other writing each day, but not as much as I would like to. I still struggle with feeling I need a great idea before I start.
What do I do each day that doesn't contribute to my writing? I allow myself to think I don't have anything of interest to say. Can I eliminate that? I am working on it.
Such a criminal thought that so many of us writers have. You are right though, the inspiration will come the more you write. So you just have to sit down and write. Sometimes what also helps me is to also read when I am feeling blocked. Also, have you read The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron? It is an excellent read. Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteI haven't, though it's been recommended to me. Those morning pages put me off!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny - for a lot of us, I think that the roadblock to our creativity (writing, knitting, sewing, whatever) is ourselves.... our unwillingness to take the first risk. Just picking it up is a start, and the first move past "failure" - because the only way to fail is to never try. I need to remember that.
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