I have a writing friend who is a little bossy. Do you have someone in your life like that? A friend that will encourage you but also kick you in the pants when you need it.
My friend’s name is Howie, and when I complain about the writing life, he says. “Erin, that’s just how the writing life is.”
For example, we talk about procrastination a lot. Writers are GREAT procrastinators. Many things cause us to procrastinate – it could be fear, it could be just not knowing what to do next. The fact is, we are going to want to procrastinate.
As Howie would say, “That’s just how the writing life is.” And he would tell me that I have a choice. I can choose to give in and procrastinate and then feel stressed about procrastinating. Or I can view procrastination as a warning sign that I am feeling something that is keeping me stuck. As you can imagine, Howie tells me to get curious and explore that something.
See, he’s bossy.
Howie has helped me with the way I look at the writing life.
Is it hard to sit down and write? Yes, but we find ways to make it happen. This is how we do it.
Is it uncomfortable to do a Facebook Live? Yes, but we push ourselves through the uncomfortable. This is how we do it.
Does it make me literally sweat to submit an article or story to be considered for publication? Yep! But, as you can guess, this is how we do it.
This is how we approach the writing life.
There will be hard things. It’s okay! We can do hard things.
There will be times when we want to stop. But if we want to keep moving forward, then we keep going, even if the going is slow. Howie says microscopic steps forward are still steps forward.
He’s encouraging when he’s not being bossy.
There will be moments when we look like the beginner we are. And that’s ok! This is how we do it.
Here at Space to Create Writing Life, we have 8 principles that guide us through this wonderful adventure called the writing life. This is how we approach the writing life, our writing life worldview, if you will.
Our words have weight. There are people who need to hear what you have to say.
It may take time for our words to come. They are worth waiting for.
Creating space in our life to dream allows us to be the person we were created to be.
Courage and fear will be ever-present, but we choose courage over fear. (This is one where Howie has to push me. He sounds like a Nike commercial. Just do it.)
We create at a pace that moves us forward without sacrificing the depth of our words.
We don’t have to have everything figured out to begin, we just need a direction. (Anyone else get stuck gathering information instead of just beginning? Howie has to push me on that too.)
Recognizing that the creative life is a collaborative journey, we reach out to those behind us on the path.
We guard against comparing our stage of the journey with those ahead of us.
Sometimes we all just need someone to say, “That’s just how the writing life is.” This is how we do it.
If you need to borrow my Howie, you are welcome to! Just remember, he can be bossy!
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moment for me.
