There are two types of writers: the kind who talk about being a writer and the kind who publish. I hear a lot of people telling me that they need the exact environment within which to write. It has to be loud. It has to be quiet. It has to be in sunlight. It has to be in total isolation. It has to be on my laptop, in my Moleskine, with the right pen, with the perfect writing software.
Excuses, all of it.
Writing Is As Writing Does
Yes, I can write much better with a keyboard than with a pen. Yes, some keyboards feel better than others. But if you’re a writer, if you have deadlines and goals and projects underway, then it doesn’t matter what the setting is. You have work to do. You have things that need doing and you have to put your world together accordingly.
Can’t find time to write but you’re up on Glee? Bully for you. Can’t find time to write but you’ve got two straight hours of Twitter back and forth? How’s your Angry Birds score?
If you’re passionate and dedicated and intend to get your writing done, buck up and do it. If you don’t have your perfect Moleskine with you or you left your lucky pen at home, then write on something else. Use a napkin. Use a crayon. Write. Get it done. Put your words into something so that you can look at them outside of your head. Get the first thoughts out. Get your notes into a format that will generate a real piece when the time is right.
Need to prompt yourself? Need some jump-starting? Use a writing class or a book of quotes or a bunch of inspired writing to get you started. I read a lot, and that always garners me new ideas. Just don’t let excuses get between you and your writing.
Perfect Kills Published
The best sentences don’t sell books (or magazines or whatever). A string of reasonably not bad sentences with useful and engaging information sells books. My books are NOT the best-written books out there on their topic. They’re well-marketed books that I put some soul and heart into. Is every sentence just so? Not even a little bit. But am I a New York Times bestselling author? Oh yes I am. Because I published.
That’s the only difference between where a lot of writers are and where I am: I published.
How? I write. I write all the time. I’m writing this at Walt Disney World, when I should be riding on the Tower of Terror or something. Yes, I do take time to stop and smell the roses, but I don’t neglect my duties. It’s part of what I do. Write. Get writing. Stop making excuses, and don’t look back.
Your successful writing future awaits. Just get publishing.
And, if ever you need some help with ideas: