The writer writes for thee – and for me.
Why do I write? Because I love it.
I take an almost perverse pleasure in putting words on the screen or page. And this has been so for over 40 years.
I can be writing a blog about writing; an article about mindfulness, conscious reality creation, and self-awareness; a sci-fi novel; blurbs for social media; business website content. It doesn’t matter to me – I love making the words come alive in whatever form they take.
About 90% of what I write is shared with the world. That’s why there are more than 10 years of blogs on The Ramblings of the Titanium Don, two blogs a week on my author’s website, and daily blogs on Medium for the past few years. Not to mention all my sci-fi and fantasy novels on Amazon, as well as my other, mostly non-fiction books under another version of my name, too.
Sure, there are things I don’t share. There are multiple full journals of writing that I have here in my home office that are utterly private.
Writer is not who I am – it’s just a part of my overall identity. It’s my career choice. Sometimes that’s not an easy choice, and there are lots of elements beyond the writing itself that are unseen and challenging. But it’s my passion and I believe in the work that I do.
Does that mean that I write for you rather than for me? No. I write for you – and I write for me.
Words, words, words
To some people, writing is a chore. It’s a challenge. There is no joy in putting words to the page or screen.
I get that. And I feel that way about crunching numbers. I have friends who love to do math and solve equations. Not me.
Writing, for me, is like breathing. I can’t not write.
Even after many breaks from writing over the years – I always come back to it.
At the end of 2011, I decided that the blog I had started in 2010 needed more upkeep. So, I took my first-ever New Year’s Action.
Rather than a resolution – which is easy to ignore, disregard, and blow-off – I took an action. That action was to start writing weekly.
I set a day – and thus began my Pathwalking blog series. It is entering its 11th year in 2022.
Again, there were fits and starts to the rest of my writing practices. But in time, I was blogging 3 days a week. Then 6 days a week.
Additionally, my catalog of self-published fiction needed to grow. So, again in fits and starts, I began writing more regularly. Before long – and with a goal set – I added 9 fiction titles in under 2 years.
Though it has not, of late, been as easy for me to get work done on my fiction – I am still working at it.
The current plan is to write until I leave this body and pass on.
Why does it matter who the writer writes for?
It matters who the writer writes for because that is where you get the difference between a writer and a hack.
This definition is borrowed from Steven Pressfield and his amazing The War of Art (if you have not read this book – do so. The audiobook is also outstanding).
His definition is thus: A writer writes from a place of love and desire. A hack writes for the “market”. A hack is someone who – in writing not what they want but what they think the “market” wants -inadvertently “condescends” to the reader.
A writer writes from the heart. It’s like birthing a child. This is an act of love.
I know full-well that sci-fi and fantasy are niche markets. Making a living as a writer within them – particularly a self-published writer – is a challenge.
This, however, is my love. Sci-fi and fantasy bring joy to my heart. That’s what I write.
Additionally, I feel the same about mindfulness, conscious reality creation, and the rest of what I blog about. And I write articles like this one to commiserate with others sharing similar struggles.
If I chose to research some topic I know is “hot” or that currently sells ludicrously well – but am not into it – that would make me a hack. If I only wrote what I thought would get all the reads on Medium – I’d be a hack. But that’s not me. I write because it’s my joy to do so.
Whatever I write, and whatever genre I am working in – I hope that my passion and joy in my work comes through.
This writer writes for me and for thee
Are you a writer? An aspiring writer? Looking to start writing or not writing enough? I have this tip for you:
Set a simple goal. Start small. Plan to write 500 words a day. If needs be, set a time where you will do it (such as I will write 500 words before noon today or I’ll write my words between 6 pm and 9 pm).
Doesn’t matter what it is – just write. Get at LEAST 500 words down. Every day.
If you miss a day – forgive yourself. Start fresh the next day and write your 500 words.
If this becomes easy and habitual – increase to 1000 words a day. I suggest as you reach goals and find them increasingly easy and habitual, increase your count by 500-word intervals.
Here’s what’s awesome about this. If you write 500 words a day – every day – you’ll have 182,500 words total in a year. That’s the equivalent of more than 3.5 50,000-word novels. That’s impressive. Double that to 1000 words a day – 365,000 words in a year. That’s more words than George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones.
Even if you only write on weekdays – 5 days a week – 500 words a day can produce 130,000 words in a year. That’s not nothing.
If you desire to be a writer – or you’re a writer who thinks and feels that you’re not producing enough words – try this out and see what you can do.
Just remember to do it for love, joy, and with passion. Whether you share what you write or not – if it’s in you and is like breathing to you – don’t deny yourself. Forgive past mistakes, missteps – and start fresh today.
And with that – I am going to follow my own advice here.
Thank you for being part of my ongoing journey, for joining me, and for inspiring me and my craft.
This is the one-hundred and forty-first article exploring the ongoing creative process. Please take a moment to check out the collection of my published works, which can be found here.
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