You Must Write

I am not a professional writer and though it would undoubtably be amazing to be published, I am sure that if that day never comes I'll be content that that's the way it is. The reason - WRITING IS BLOODY HARD WORK. I am in actual fact lazy. OK, I'm not necessarily proud of it but I prefer to sit at home playing pointless games on facebook to having to deal with real life and actually do some work. The thing about writing is that not only is it hard work, but the only motivation you have comes from yourself. At the moment I am doing a lot of writing but only because I have a close group of friends (all of whom are writers themselves) to make me sit down and do the work. Not to mention that if I didn't, I would fail my degree - something I'm not planning on doing. But to make writing really work, you have to do it every day. This is advice I've read over and over but it is only by doing it everyday that you realise just how important this practice is. Perhaps over time (I'm hoping) it will become part of my routine to write and so I will continue honing my craft and enjoying the process. Because the other important aspect of writing is that you have to love it - if you didn't you would have to be getting paid an awful lot to keep going (and we all know how rare that is).

I know I will always write because I am compelled to. But without motivation and determination that is as far as it will ever get for me. To be honest, I don't mind THAT much; but it would be nice to know that all this effort is leading somewhere. I don't want to find myself giving up - because that leads to the guilt and the shame and the pointlessness of it all which I find it best to avoid. So my advice: only write if you HAVE to write because you would die if you didn't. And if you're going to write - do it every day and give it the best damn shot you can. Then again, you can ignore me completely and just continue on as you are - I'm just sharing what I have learnt and what I believe to anyone out there who wishes to listen.