This is for me and a reminder to myself. In the game of creative writing I have started ,failed and stopped writing for a long time. Only to continue again.
In this game there are no losers or winners there are only quitters and players as long as I keep playing I will win.
Writing is hard
While that might be true . It is not as hard as I make it seem. I know everytime I sit to write I am starting from scratch knowing that it might not work.
When I read the book The Alchemist by Paul Celho. The author said a quote “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is greater than suffering itself”. In my own words the “The fear of writing is greater than the struggle of writing”. come to think of it.
Why am I afraid?
What am I afraid of?
I am scared it might not work. I am scared I don’t have what it takes.
Hmmm. Ok moving on . Is this work of writing worth taking the risk. The magic happens at the edge. The place where nothing is guaranteed.
I don’t have what it takes
Writing is hard. My writing is not good enough because I don’t know how to write well.
This leads to the next question. How can I be good enough. By writing.
No not just writing. Writing and getting correct feedback on my work. How did other writers do it? How did they learn to write?
Practice doesn’t make perfect. It makes permanent. Intentional and Deliberate Practice is what makes better. How can I do this?
Earnest Hemingway in his early years of writing did copy working. He would copy out the works he admired word for word. This helped him to internalize the style.
Benjamin Franklin would take the work of the reputable magazines and break the words and attempt to write and say things in the style of writing in the magazine.
This is a conversation with myself. I hope you found it useful. Let me know .
Until next time, keep writing.
I have a podcast called Buildwriting.