Poetry, Prose, & Peonies

It’s not the fear of writing that blocks people. It’s the fear of not writing well; something quite different.

Scott Berkun

As writers, we all know that feeling. “Ugh, I have to force myself to sit down and write.” When you have 3 assignments due within a two-day window and your font of words runs dry, it can be hard to push through. It’s not realistic to get caught up in moments of inspiration every single time you have to write.

The key to success as a writer is consistency. I know, I know, I can practically hear your eyes rolling. This is the same thing all my writing and English professors have told me over the last four years. I’ve heard it in nearly every writing podcast and YouTube video. I’ve heard it everywhere. But I can’t deny that once I actually tried writing consistently every single day, my word counts soared higher than they have ever been.

Motivating yourself to take time everyday to write can be hard. It takes self-discipline and hard work, but it’s feasible. All you need is 10 minutes. There are thousands of writing prompts available for free on google that you can use to practice techniques, to break out of your own head. Sometimes it takes stepping outside of your comfort zone to come back and realize what was stopping you from writing.

Don’t feel like working on that manuscript that has you stressed out? Try starting a new project, writing poetry, journalling, or free writing. The joy of writing is being able to express what you’re feeling. Don’t limit yourself to a particular project or style. Feeling bored? Switch up your style, create new characters, research for that new idea in the back of your mind. Sometimes writing something else takes you away, just enough, to make you want to come back.

We all know we’re supposed to avoid clichés and over-used ideas. This is one cliché that I stick to. Write. A professor once told me, “It doesn’t take just writing to be a good writer. You have to commit to re-writing. Great writers are re-writers.” This changed my whole life. I used to hate the editing process but it is an essential task to improve your writing skills and your stories.

Ever since that day I’ve tried to change the way I view these lulls in creative flow. Instead of grumbling and daydreaming the ways I could throw my laptop across the room, if I could afford it, I use the times I feel creatively stunted to look over my works in progress.

“You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.”

Jodi Picoult

Editing is essential to any writer’s tool kit. More often than not, I found myself getting into the flow of editing and by the end of it I continued writing. When you’re stuck on a piece it’s usually for one of two reasons: your mental health needs attention, or there is a consistency issue within the piece you’re writing. If you need to take time to relax and reset, it’s okay to give yourself permission to walk away. If your mind isn’t in the right space, forcing yourself to write is not the solution. My post on mental health and writing gives clarity as to the methods I use to beef up my writing through the lens of mental well-being.

Simply keep writing.

“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow unless the faucet is turned on.”

Louis L’Amour

Turn on your creative faucets by allowing yourself the space to write what you feel. Even if it doesn’t make sense right away. Prose doesn’t just come out beautiful, it takes rounds and rounds of editing to allow the piece to shine. Don’t be afraid of writing “garbage,” because you may surprise yourself.

To write is human, to edit is divine.

Stephen King

It’s okay to make mistakes. It’s okay to say the wrong thing. It’s okay to create a bland image. You are not a bad writer. You’re simply, a writer. We all struggle with grammar, sentence structure, word choice, and all the other things you think you’re bad at. We love to criticize ourselves instead of making steps to change it.

Let yourself write garbage. You can always edit it later.