I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember.
In the sixth grade, I wrote about a superhero, known to my friends and me as “Stupid Mighty Guy,” in the form of small comic strips. They were simple enough with my mediocre drawings, but it was the plot that intrigued the other kids – Stupid Mighty Guy would attempt to save someone, or fix something, and he’d die a horrible death. So I was a little messed up, right? But how can you blame the kid who grows up on horror movies and R.L. Stine books?
I know, I know. Certainly I’ve had my low points: as I grew older and (thankfully) matured, for months on end, I’d either make excuses for not making time to hone my craft, or find other things to occupy my time – Netflix, jobs, schoolwork, and of course reading. I’d call it writer’s block and go on with my life. Occasionally, I’d tell my friends that I was working on something new, and I’d tell them everything I knew about the story in an excitement of word vomit; sometimes, I would continue to write the ideas in my head, but most often, those ideas fizzled.
Why? I ask myself this often, and I’ve come to a conclusion.
Not all writers follow the same process. When I would avoid actually sitting down and writing something – or even contributing to my writer’s process via plotting, characterization, or world building – I would scour the internet to find out who had the end-all-be-all tip for fixing my writer’s block, or advice for how to proceed with a story, or, most often, give up and continue to browse music on YouTube or writing on Tumblr.
It was – and still is – so frustrating, especially considering my desire to become a published author at some point in my lifetime. Veronica Roth wrote the Divergent series while in college, so why couldn’t I write a short story, or, god forbid, a novel?
I’m writing this here today to remind myself to keep going. It can be hard; some scenes won’t work. Sometimes, your writing is going to absolutely suck, and you’re going to want to trash it. You might even act brash and scrap the entire idea simply because you don’t believe that your writing skill is good enough.
But, you are good enough. Write what you know. Write what you love. Write for those you love, and for those who love you. No one ever made the New York Times Bestsellers list by giving up.
Forget about the word count. Forget about the page number, or the chapter breaks, or the audience. Write for yourself.
The most important aspect in the journey is you and the words that you write.
You are a writer, so just write.
