So you want to be a writer, huh? Then DO IT!
Mystery author Agatha Christie once said, “The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes.” There’s a lot of wisdom in that statement.
You know, you don’t have to live a weird life — or even a particularly exciting life — to be a great author. In fact you can live a very ordinary, chicken-frying, auto-repairing, laundry-washing, diaper-changing kind of life and still write books that will lift people OUT OF the ordinary and into a place where imaginations rise to peak places, where new dreams are ignited, and where hope and faith bring victory into life’s struggles.
So pick up that pen, sit down to that computer keyboard, or start dictating into that recorder — whatever method works for you. If you’re sure you WANT to write, START WRITING. Your life will never be the same.
The Happy Wordcrafter 
While I am waiting for your sequel, I will write . . . . something 🙂
Well, now, if you mean a sequel to this particular article, you’re just in time. I actually hadn’t intended to write one, but not too long after I posted this, I realized there was something else I needed to say on the subject, so there will probably be a sequel tomorrow.
However, if you mean a sequel to some of my books, there are some already out there. The “Smoky Mountain Novel Series” has 5 books in all, and 4 of the 5 are already on the market.
(Thanks for giving me the opportunity to advertise them again with this comment. Every little bit helps, you know.)
And, yes, definitely write … something … because it’s those little “somethings” that often lead to best sellers. I’ve told the story on here about how a simple two-word writing exercise led to the beginning of a whole novel that, I think, is becoming one of my best.
I’m a lazy writer Sandra – that’s why I write poetry. 🙂
Ooops, meant to reply much sooner. I guess I keep thinking that “intending” to do something equals “doing” it. I don’t think writing poetry is at all lazy. In fact, often it’s much more work than prose. Moderate- sized poems may not use as many words, but because they not only have to make the same sense as the prose, but also have to make that sense with some degree of acceptable meter and rhyme, they are doubly challenging. Poems don’t necessarily take me longer to write, but they take a little more energy and commitment to start. And lazy people don’t choose the routes that take the most energy and commitment.
So now that you know you’re not lazy, I guess that means you’re going to have to write even more …..
I write but mostly am re doing/editing pieces from the past. A few new pieces but am lazy I’m afraid. lots of notes but nothing firm…:)
Absolutely agree with you. However, doing routine things doesn’t mean you have to be an ordinary, invisible personality.
Mine is started but I’m having a bad time squeezing the next bit out!
Well, always remember the “writing exercise” trick. If you just can’t get anything at all going, set you a timer for 10 or 15 minutes. Pull up a blank document page. Type in the very last sentence you had already written and then make yourself keep typing, no matter what, until the timer goes off.
Type anything and everything that pops into your head, no matter how ridiculous it sounds. Don’t stop to think deeply or to edit anything. Just don’t stop typing until the timer goes off.
Sometimes this procedure doesn’t help, but often it will unclog some creative thinking, and ideas and thoughts that your conscious mind had no idea you were harboring in the unconscious will come rolling out. Then, out of those several hundred words, you will find the one sentence, the one emotion, or the one action that will move your story forward to its destiny. You might even find the next whole chapter. However, be aware that you might end up heading in a completely different direction than the one you originally intended — with a totally different kind of ending. But if it’s what you had in you, then that’s what you want to draw from.
This kind of exercise is never a waste of time, because even if you find nothing in the finished product that you can use in your current story, later on — maybe 6 months or a year from no — those very words may trigger a whole new story for you. So don’t discard your exercise. Always save a copy of EVERYTHING you write — not matter how unimportant it may seem at the time.
And, at the very least, this exercise will keep you actively working on your story so that it doesn’t become stale.
I’m afraid Hemingway met his fate after realizing when he wanted to stop drinking…it was his only muse all along…So, I’ve decided to give it up…
the writing that is…
Thanks for stopping by to see me..
by the way…
I personally fell completely in love with ALL THE CHARACTERS of your Novel” Set Free to Love” …lovely book…
I’m so glad. And thanks for letting me know. Stop back by in a few days, because I will have “Quenton’s Honor” on there for a free read. I really do think you will like that one.
Now, wait a minute here! Your muse has not been drinking, so Hemingway’s experience bears no relevance in this case. If you still WANT to write, you need to keep seeking the outlet that is right for you. Maybe, in the past, you were straining to write in a genre that isn’t a natural strong point with you. Don’t limit yourself. You know you can write poetry/song lyrics. Have you considered taking one of the poems or songs and building it into a short story?
But, now, if you really do not have a DESIRE to write, that’s a different story.
I’m so glad you got on that well with the characters from “Set Free.” And thanks for letting me know. Stop back by in a few days, because I will have “Quenton’s Honor” on there for a free read. I really do think you will like that one. And you have my permission to print out the pages so you can sit and read them normally.
Maybe I should wash dishes more often, then maybe I could write better.
🙂
Mine often sit on the cabinet for a couple days at a time — but it’s usually because I am writing that they don’t get done. I hadn’t thought that if I actually washed them when I should, I might be a better writer. Thanks for the tip …….. not that I will actually do it.
Some friends of mine pastor a church in Fredricksburg, VA, and they have a couple young guys who are members — who also
share an apartment. Neither of them likes to wash dishes, so they just keep letting them pile up. Here while back, when they had let them go until the entire set of dishes was stacked on the cabinet dirty, they decided, “Oh, well, they’re just a cheap set anyway. We’ll just throw them away and buy us a new set.” So that’s what they did.
Humm! Never thought of tossing them. Now there’s a thought!
Some how when they are out there on the cabinet and I am in here blogging, they don’t seem to come to mind. Humm! 🙂
Actually, I’m about as guilty as those guys, in that I often throw away my dirty dishes and buy new, except that mine are PAPER and PLASTIC.
Thanks Sandra- a word of encouragement like this is often all the push we need.
I’ve heard it said that everyone has the material for a book worth reading in their heads, whether they realise it or not. For those of us who do know it, the challenge- or fear- of getting it out can stand solidly in our way.
I have a soft spot for English teachers, having had some special ones of my own. Keep doing the good work you do- folks like you do more good than you will ever know!
I’m so glad you were encouraged. Thanks for letting me know.
I live a pretty normal life too. I am a husband, a daddy, and school teacher, and a college professor. I read my Bible and talk with Jesus as much as I can. And I write. I write poetry. My focus? The Civil War. I just had my first book published, Private Hercules McGraw: Poems of the American Civil War. Yup, you are right. Writers write. If you want be a writer, you simply need to sit down and write. Thanks for the post. All the best.