ProAm Tips #3
This one is a little obvious, but I’m going to say it anyhow- writers WRITE.
If you want to get your stuff out there, you need to write it down. You can’t do anything until you have product. No one is going to read your stuff if its sitting in a pile on your desk, a file on your computer, or worst of all, in your head. You need to get it on paper, or the screen, and get it the hell OUT THERE.
You need motivation? Here’s motivation. Do it or don’t do it. I don’t care which.
Did not expect that, did you?
I’m not here to coddle you, or pat your head, or tell you someday they’ll appreciate your genius. I don’t know you. I don’t care about you. I care about the product. The book I adored. The short story that made me think. The poem that moved me to tears. That’s what matters. The Work. Yeah, I used a capital W. Because the Work is what matters. I shouldn’t have to motivate you. You want to write, you do it.
No other job, hobby, or profession has this particular feature going for it. If you want to do it, you just DO it. You don’t need a degree. You don’t need permission. you don’t need any preparation or training. You learn by doing, and you do by doing. Get to your computer. Don’t have a computer (how are you reading this?)? Get a pen and paper. Pen and paper were invented for writing. Don’t have a pen and paper? Use a piece of rock and a square of your sidewalk.
The only thing stopping you from writing is YOU. No distractions, no complications, no family, no job takes up all of your time, one hundred percent, 24/7.
If it matters to you, you’ll find the time. You’ll find a way. There will never be a better moment than right now. Go write. Be a writer.
Remember, you don’t have to be better than all the other writers out there. You only have to be better than non-writing you.