For all of the writers on the journey of the elusive 50K by the end of November, I salute you! Here’s a post to inspire you to reach for the stars.
I have to re set every day.
Just because I have a great writing day does not mean it will carry over to the next day.
I have to start all over again, from scratch, even if I’m in the middle of a book. Even if I read the paragraph before. Even if I’m brimming with ideas. It’s still a brand new moment I have to show up for in order to get the words.
It’s good news and bad news.
Good because if you have a bad day, you get to start all over again.
Bad, because if you have a productive day, the next one may suck.
It shows the importance and absolute crucial obligation to remain patient. I laugh at people who think this career is exciting, different, thrilling, or fascinating. Okay – sometimes it is. At the best of times, and maybe a few days out of the year.
Mostly, it’s a boring, tedious career. Because every day you just show up and sit. And wait. And tinker. And try. And sometimes you get the ride of a lifetime, but then it stops for dinner, or to pick up the kids, or let the dog out, and you start ALL OVER AGAIN. You sit back down at the desk and re-start the same shit.
But along the way, something amazing occurs.
The showing up and writing gives us a special and unique gift. The gift to know oneself on the very deepest of levels. It is a meditation of mind and heart and soul. We can never hide from ourselves because we are always putting it on the page, or wrestling it from the deepest caves of our minds, and spilling our secrets.
How damn cool is that, guys?
But to get there, you need the patience to wait. Wait for the muse, wait for the words, wait for the ideas. Wait for a sentence. Wait for an edit. Wait to finally tie in all the loose threads of your story so it makes sense. Wait for the theme to reveal or a character to finally make sense to you.
Sit…and wait.
Sit…and work.
Sit…and be. Over and over. Day after day.
And that is how you create your greatest work. Your masterpieces. Your final book version that has been dusted off after years of architectural digging and revealed to the world. Don’t let anyone ever tell you different—there is no failure in producing art. EVER. There is only failure by giving up. In believing it didn’t matter.
But then you must do it again. Each time you learn. Get better. Find out more about yourself. Face new fears.
That’s our job as writers. That’s our gift.
Don’t underestimate the power or undervalue the work.
Don’t get an ego from it either. Because the moment you are on top of the world and feeling like God, the next you are scum under someone’s shoe and related to an amoeba. Being humble does not mean discarding the importance of creative work. It means you are serving the work—you are open to new ideas without judgement or the rational mind trying to shove you into a category or pin a label on you.
Start every day with intention; purpose; and honor.
Because you are a writer.
#writetrue #nanowrimo #writenaked
