Writing Tip: Getting Started
Greetings Aspiring Writers and Readers,
Welcome to my first Blog. For most aspiring writers, maintaining the discipline to write on a regular basis is one of the hardest parts of being a writer. As an aspiring writer, you may possess the desire to write and get published, but it takes much more than simply wanting to be a writer. It takes positive thinking, life balancing, perseverance, time management, and in many cases these days a little luck. It turns out these same qualities are relevant when pursuing other goals in life—not only writing.
When I talk about life balance, I mean it’s necessary to carve out time for what is personally essential for your own well-being—such things as your physical and mental health, your family’s needs, your spiritual growth, and your job responsibilities, for instance. This list of priorities will be a personal one that each of us will need to discover for ourselves and reassess throughout our writing journey.
By discipline, I mean sitting down and doing the work that needs to get done. To cultivate discipline, try not to get distracted by TV binge-watching, inconvenient telephone calls, excessive texting/social media posts or other time-wasting activities that keep you from writing. You can “reward” yourself with a few of these fun activities after you’ve put in some writing time each day. Remember that acquiring discipline doesn’t happen all at once. So, don’t be too hard on yourself if you give in to a few unproductive days in your weekly schedule. I started my writing journey while working full-time as an English instructor at a local community college. Teaching was my “day job,” so I had to steal away first 15 minutes a day, then 30 minutes and eventually a full hour in the early mornings or late evenings to write, whichever time block worked best to keep a flexible schedule and make time for my own personal priorities that I talked about early. During those early days as an aspiring writer, not only was I working full-time as an educator, I was also a mom with three children; being a mom is its own full-time job!
What is perseverance? Perseverance is the ability to keep going without guarantee of immediate gain. I’m not saying it’s easy to live the writer’s life, but I do believe if there is something that you have a passion for, like writing in my case, nothing should stand in your way of achieving it—not failure, not rejection, nor obstacles along the way. It’s not about instant success; it’s about a life-long journey of living and experiencing your passion and not feeling guilty if you do need to detour every once in a while.
In this weekly blog, I hope to share with you tips on writing, publishing, researching, finding resources, maintaining discipline as a writer, and more. In this blog, I hope to have a conversation where we can learn from each other.