All my life I knew I loved writing. What I did not know was that you can love writing, but not be a writer. It takes time, skill, patience, and a lot of practice. I have recently discovered a whole new side of writing, and I am absolutely in love with the concept.

1. Not everything you write is precious.

Right from the jump, I knew this was going to be a big pill to swallow. As a writer, everything you write may not be good. I have had straight garbage come out of this brain. It does not mean I want to share that with the world. I even have a document where I keep bits of writing that was ‘okay’, but not good enough to pursue. You will have people who will flat out say your piece “sucks”, and that is okay. Not everyone is going to be Mum saying “you did an amazing job. I loved it!” You have to build a wall to be able to prepare yourself for all types of critiques, even when one is the guy throwing it straight in the trash can—yes that has happened to me. But on the other hand, be proud of your work. You can write poems, prose, quotes, and anything you want to update your collection. It is your work, and it took time and effort to write up your ideas, analyze and edit it.

2. You need to write every day

Well, at least nearly every day. I did not learn this concept until college. I would just write whenever I wanted or I would wait until I was filled to the brim with emotion, so I could just bust out a few poems and writings, and then call it for about a month. By writing every day I managed to figure out what is good writing, and what is bad writing. I was also able to get used to constantly thinking and coming up with ideas, even on my lazy days. Think of an instrument for instance, if you stop practicing, you do not get any better, if anything, you would just get worse. You would not be familiar with what is going on, and when it comes down to the performance, you are nervous and scared that you are not ready. The things is, you are like that because you stopped perfecting your craft, and you only worked on it when it really counted.

3. Your writing should speak truths

When it comes to writing, especially creative writing, you have to speak your truth. This is where you can be honest with yourself and your readers. Sometimes it is hard for me when I publish my writings or have someone read something because I feel vulnerable. I think about how that person is going to view me after they read what I wrote. Growing up, everyone I knew always looked at me in a certain light so it was weird for me to show who I really am and display my flaws. Now I think “who cares what they think”. It is my writing, and they can choose to click off if they do not like it. I believe you cannot really fail at writing, but if there was anything that could resemble that, it would be lying about who you are and how you write.

4. Asking for help

Maybe it is an ego thing, but many writers that I have met are pretty proud of their work, and why wouldn’t they be? But when we are drafting and deciding “do we want this line” or “does this part make sense?” we might need a second opinion. Sometimes it may feel as if your writing is not yours anymore. That is okay. Our writings, especially longer ones, have our heart and soul in them. For someone to come in and say “you should add this” or “maybe take this part out” can sting a bit. But it all comes down to the point of an audience seeing your work. What you see in your writing may not be true for others who read it. So let others help you. Someone you truly trust should give it a look through so you know they are being genuine and can give you the possible outcome of your piece.

5. Am I good enough?

I come across this all the time, especially when submitting something to be published. There is always that little voice in the back of your head doubting the piece you just spent hours upon hours writing. Being a writer is partially about taking a risk. Whether it be on the topic that you are writing about, maybe the audience it is going to, or even the fact that you are trying to win something with it. In the end, as long as you like what you wrote, everything else comes in second place. Every time you finish a new idea, you are one idea better than the writer that you were before, and that already makes you pretty awesome.

Being a writer can be pretty consuming, but it is also rewarding and liberating. You can create worlds all your own. You can twist and bend the way people view things just by the order of words that you use. Not everyone can be a writer, so congratulations on joining the club.