Just Write
What I’m reading: Silverborn: The mystery of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
What I’m playing: The Planet Crafter (Toxicity)
As I’m new to this blogging thing, I struggled to come to terms with what I would write this week. So, it seems fitting that writing itself would be the topic I focus on.
I’m having an awesome experience at the moment where my class keeps showing me really interesting and relevant readings, which then cause me to follow the links to other readings, and I’m just absorbing so much information at the moment that it’s a bit messy in my brain at the moment.
It’s a very happy mess, though. I love learning.
I wanted to share with you two different quotes on the topic of writing.
The first is from an ebook called, ‘Author blueprint’ by Joanna Penn (2024, section 1.3). The book is available for free on the author’s website, which I’ll link below.
We make time for the things we value. If you’re not making time for writing, then it’s not high enough on your list…
This line really caused me to question myself. Am I a writer or not? If I’m not writing every day, does that mean I don’t get to call myself a writer? I wear so many hats. I have a job, I’m studying, I’m working on creative projects, I’m a mother, and a carer. Do I really need to write every day to be a writer? What does that even look like?
But at the same time, it really did cause me to challenge myself. Maybe the bar is high, and I don’t always make the mark. But shouldn’t that be the goal? Maybe the point isn’t to feel less than, but to continually strive towards that goal, gradually learning better time management skills as I walk this creative journey.
The second quote balances out that one quite nicely, I think. It’s from a book called ‘Writing down the bones’ by Natalie Goldberg, and I have the 30th anniversary edition, so it feels like I’ve just tapped into some magical hidden knowledge that creative writing students have been secretly drawing from for decades.
This is the practice school of writing. Like running, the more you do it, the better you get at it. Some days you don’t want to run and you resist each step of the three miles, but you do it anyway. You practice whether you want to or not. You don’t wait around for inspiration and a deep desire to run. (Goldberg, 2016, p. 11).
When we write, we don’t have to have a piece in mind. We don’t need to put out quality work every time we sit down at our desk. What we need is the discipline to keep writing regardless of how inspired we feel, or the quality of our output. Just keep showing up, and the quality will eventually increase.
So, today I wrote. And hopefully, as I continue to write for this blog, its quality will eventually increase too.
References
Goldberg, N. (2016). Writing down the bones: Freeing the writer within. Shambhala, Boulder.
Penn, J. (2024). Author blueprint. https://www.thecreativepenn.com/.
