Being observant and taking lessons from every second of every day can be exhausting, but worth it. The mind of a writer is constantly on the lookout for a story, constantly narrating their life, constantly looking for the next character or plot twist. Every gust of wind is a chapter and every voice holds a complicated backstory. It's just how the world looks to us. And it is for those little observers who sit in coffee shop windows, creating worlds out of words, that I write this.
1. Everything is research.
2. The glass is half full.
Maybe it's just me, but I can have a horrible, terrible, life-dooming night, and come out of it with a smile simply because I know I got some serious inspiration for the book I'm writing. Even if you just journal, when you have a bad day, you have something to write about and that excuse is as good as any.
3. Discouragement: an enemy and a friend.
Especially in college when professors are telling you- you write too many run-on sentences and your essay went off topic, getting discouraged can be an everyday occurrence. The thing is, while you do get discouraged, the fact that you pick up a pencil and continue anyway makes all the difference. Without the discouragement, you wouldn't know how to not quit.
4. Word counts are Satan.
How can a person write a summary in 190 words or less? No more than that? That's impossible. I will forever be frustrated when I see a word count on the assignment instructions. We are wordy people, why can't people understand that? On the other hand, your friends love you because when they need help reaching a word count, you are their queen.
5. All the drafts.
I have a book I wrote when I was 12 in a binder in my closet. It was obviously written by a child and I will never do anything with it, but cheesy as it is, I can't get rid of it. It's hard to get rid of any writing, you never know when and if you'll need it. And if one day, you do need that sentence you thought of at 3 a.m. a year ago, you'll have it.
6. Writer's block is cruel.
There will be those times where you're in a funk and feel like you aren't accomplishing anything and that your writing sucks. I’ve spent months living there. But it's important to treat those moments like they are: temporary funks. Writer's block sucks and it lasts sometimes too long than preferred, but eventually you'll be hanging with your friends or driving in your car and an idea will come followed by many others. When inspiration leaves momentarily, it just makes its presence even more welcome.
7. You can be creepy.
Sitting and watching people is a norm. It's a great way to get ideas. Every book has people, and every person has traits. The only way to have your characters be realistic is to use real examples. So there ya have it, if you see me sitting and watching and basically being creepy, there is my motive.
8. The Queen/King of living vicariously.
Sometimes research is tiring or you know someone who has some better experience in a particular field, so you live vicariously. Other people's lives can be so very different from your own and opening your eyes to other's experiences and feelings can get you very far in the writer's world.
9. Nothing is better than "The End".
There is something so satisfying about finishing a story you've been working on for ages. It is the best type of ending; being satisfied enough to let your pride and joy be completed. It is what drives you to start another story and to keep writing in the midst of your hectic or ridiculously boring life.
10. The fundamentals are key.
Being a writer is splendid. Whether it is a blank page that makes your heart spring to life or a thesaurus you can't wait to get your hands on (or both), you can find joy in the simplest of things. You can stretch a tree branch swaying in the wind into a poem, you can turn heart ache into a story for the ages, you can make people feel emotions through little things called words. You can find positives in a horrible night. A grocery store can be exciting to a writer; a whole chapter can come from a trip to the store. As writers, we have naturally learned how to appreciate every fleeting moment because when it's over, we know we've gained a beautiful and eloquent sentence. At the end of each day, we have a paper’s worth (maybe even more) of new information. And that is a beautiful thing.
With all that being said, write on.
