Writing Doesn't Have to be That Hard

A few days ago while writing and not procrastinating at all, my lovely little apartment with the desk overlooking downtown Honolulu suddenly felt like a very small shoebox. This claustrophobia was somewhat alleviated by a small jaunt out to the Moana Surfrider Hotel in Waikiki to join a writer's "gathering" where I learned that writing is hard and authorship is apparently harder.

Or not.

I mean, I did go to a gathering and I did listen as writers talked about how hard it was to cross the "million mile chasm to authorhood," but I didn't feel like I learned anything (and I may have, in fact, been procrastinating). I already knew that I had to work on my digital "platform," and I already knew that not everyone in that room would "make it." I already knew all about the victim mindset common among some writers (particularly new ones).

The trouble, of course, is the idea that being a writer is so hard. Personally, I don't relate with this mindset and I see it as the malformed seed of a self-fulfilling prophecy. What some people need to understand is that if you see your task as a mountain you have to climb - whether that's writing a novel, knitting a scarf, or killing it at a board meeting - then you will have to climb that freaking mountain.

Now, I'm not saying people can't have legitimate creative roadblocks, but writing can be like a rorscharch test. Whatever limitations you think you have around creativity are likely to show when you write or procrastinate or pretend. If you think you aren't the "ideas person," then you may have trouble coming up with ideas. If you don't think you can edit, then your first drafts will gather dust in a drawer. If you believe, deep down, that being a writer is like pulling teeth, then writing will be torture.

Please, if you think this applies to you, stop limiting yourself. Start telling yourself that you can write. Tell yourself that writing is freeing and easy and fun. You may not believe it at first, but like anything else it just takes practice. Don't talk yourself into turning your novel into a sisyphian task especially if writing is something you must do.

Stop looking at the distance between you and those glittering stars (Rowling, King, Green) and start paying attention to where you're at right now. Put one word in front of the other one. Then another. Then another. Do you see how easy this can be?

No matter what anyone has told you - including yourself - keep writing and practicing your craft. It doesn't have to be perfect, just about right.