B.I.C.H.O.K.
Posted on Tuesday, June 21st, 2011Sometimes, I enjoy taking some time off from writing. Usually these weeks come when I’m not feeling well, everyone and their kids need my spare time and my cats require an extra 3-4 hours of attention a day. Last week was one of those weeks. I still feel guilty for not writing, but looking back; I can understand why I didn’t. Even the blog post I wrote was inane. One thing I never miss though, are my writing podcasts. I am constantly reminded every time I turn on one of them that even if I can’t write every day, I can learn something about the craft of writing.
This week, for instance, I learned that I need to stop apologizing for things that simply aren’t my fault. Last week, I learned that reading outside my preferred genre helps me to understand how to write in different genres and how to improve my writing in my own genre. The week before that I learned that I have no clue how to write a short story anymore.
I could continue, but I think you get the picture. The reason I’m discussing this topic is because of a friend of mine. I was looking over classes for SiWC and I asked him for his opinion on which of the master’s classes I should take, given the chance. He looked over the ones I’d selected and suggested that I do the one that was on social media and using it appropriately, both for marketing and for relationship reasons. This friend of mine, is a good writer, in fact, he’s been doing this longer than I have and I respect him, both as a friend and as someone that I always consider ahead of me in the writing game.
I asked why and he said, “Well, you’ve got most of the craft aspects down. You just need to publish.”
I try to tell myself every day that I’m a Great Writer, that I am still learning and that I am getting vastly better. Still, I haven’t completely convinced myself yet, since his response still floored me. One of the things that I’ve taught myself is that I always consider me the lowest one on the totem pole. Offhand, if you haven’t tried it yet, re-teaching yourself something is the hardest thing in the world to do.
Because the most important thing I’ve learned from all of my studies is that if I want to be a writer, then I have to learn how to write, every day. I need to learn how to write when I’m sick, when I’ve had a hard day at work, when I want to play that new videogame I just downloaded or when I want to read. Nothing else will help me reach my goal of being a professional writer faster, than writing.
So, where does this leave me… just wishing I could just do some writing? No, because I’m not a “I wish…” person. I am somebody who can get this done. My total is at almost 82,000 words now. So, you know what? No more putting it off. No more excuses. I’m setting myself down to write so that I can finish my 13,000 – 18,000 words that I have left to write.
Tags: Blog, motivation, SIWC, Surrey International Writers Conference, Writing
Posted in Blogs by B.A. Matthews | Comments Off