You Are Doing It

I read a great post on Chuck Wendig’s Terrible Minds blog (when does Wendig NOT have a great post on his blog?) about how whatever mental, emotional, physical issues hinder us, we’re all still real writers. Things hinder us. All of us.

I’ve wanted to write this down for a while, and Chuck’s post exorcised it from my brain’s blog post silo…

by Stephen Zsaitsits

Are you a writer?

You are writing.

Your office is a mess, your desk is a mess, cobwebs taunt you from the corners of the room. Your inbox bulges with bills, conference paraphernalia, inspired notes, mad ramblings, phone messages, and receipts. But, you are writing.

You are writing.

You’ve got unfinished work, unqueried work, undeveloped ideas. You haven’t been published enough. You haven’t sold enough. You haven’t gotten enough awards/critical acclaim/attention from your spouse. But, you are writing.

You are writing.

You have trouble staying focused, staying off line, staying awake or asleep. You have trouble staying positive, staying organized, staying committed. You can’t quit your day job. But, you are writing.

You are writing.

You wrote 500 new words. You hate what you just wrote. You love what you just wrote. You are an imbecile. You are on top of the world.

You are writing.

Welcome.

You are a writer.

YOUR WORKOUT

I think I’ve given this assignment out multiple times, but it’s a good one.

As you go about your day, narrate it in your head like this, “Here I am at my desk, a writer writing.” (or, an artist drawing, or a dancer dancing, etc). Then, even as you do your domestic errands, keep that thought going. “Here I am a writer buying groceries. Here I am a writer picking up her son from his friend’s house. Here I am a writer washing dishes.”

It may sound silly, but a writer has to do all those things. Cook, pick up her kids, wash the dishes. To me the mantra is about celebrating your writing life, no matter what else you might be doing that day. It also brings me down to earth, grounds me a bit, and makes me smile.