What I've Learned (About Writing)

I am a writer.  (deep exhale)  That's not something I say out loud, like ever.  But I'm finally starting to believe it enough to think it.  I am always quick to encourage someone else and also quick to discount my own gifts/talents.  I tell myself that anyone can do what I do.  Maybe that's true, but I'm beginning to see that, although others can, not everyone does.

Getting lots of writing done

So, my beautiful writer friends (Amber and Deanna!), here is what I've learned...

1. Writing is a way of life.  As soon as I learned how to form letters, I began to write.  I have kept diaries and journals, written short stories and term papers, love letters and bad poetry.  Writing has always been part of me.  Then, five or six years ago, when I found myself without many friends and with deep, dark thoughts bubbling inside me, I grabbed a pen and a half-blank notebook and I began to write all the things I couldn't say.  So, while blogging may be relatively new, writing has always been there.

2.  Writing is solitary.  This is good news for those of us who are beginning something, learning and honing our craft.  No one else will read what you write.  The only critics are the ones marching around in your own brain.  You get to take years to get better, to get to the point when you want to share your writing.  And all that time, your writing is evolving.  This can also be bad news for those of us who listen too much to our inner critics, who tremble at the blinking cursor and turn off the computer without entering a single word.  There is no one else who will do the work for you, there is no one to point out the obvious (stop listening to the voices that say you suck), there is no one to congratulate you on finishing your latest piece.  Write anyway.

3.  Writing brings community.  That's right...it's lonely work and it will bring you closer to other people.  Other writers who will edit and encourage, who will share their knowledge and commiserate with you.  Readers who will connect with your words and get to know the YOU that is sometimes hidden in everyday life.  And, of course, the external critics who don't like you or what you think or how you see the world.  Yay!

4.  Writing is therapy.  Before I can say it, I can write it.  All those deep, dark thoughts I mentioned in #1?  I wrote them down to get them out and begin to process.  Then I showed them to my husband because I couldn't tell him how I was feeling but I could write about how I was feeling.  Only after I have come to terms with what is happening, once I can stand on the other side and admit the truth do I share it with everyone else.  What if I'd never found writing?  Good Lord, can you even imagine the kind of insanely crazed woman I would be today?  Thank you paper, for being readily available and infinitely cheaper than a psychiatrist.

5.  Writing is an escape.  I spend all day with little people...have I mentioned that in the last five minutes?  Writing during nap time, after dinner, on weekends, in the car line, etc lets me leave this sometimes chaotic life and disappear into a world of my own creation, where there are no messes to clean and no homework to check and everyone does exactly what I want them to do (or else they get deleted!).  Writing is a mini-vacation that happens inside my head and pours out onto paper.

6.  Writing can't be everything.  Even as I bemoan the people who interfere with my writing and slow down my work, I have to point out that I had nothing worth writing until those people came into my life.  If I was some single lady writing at Starbucks after work, I would be staring at a blank screen.  So there has to be life beyond the words.  There has to be some real living going on to provide material and inspiration.  There have to be books in hand and tickles freely given and walks in the quiet spring evenings and endless loads of laundry or there would be no words.  I've also learned that some men don't like falling asleep with their wife and her notebook.  So live first, write second.

7.  Every writer requires her own fuel.  When I sit down to write, my favorite things are a quiet house, Hot Tamales, Suri's Burn Book (surisburnbook.tumblr.com), Pandora Love Songs, and Cinnamon Dolce lattes.

Caffeine and Sugar!!