A Writer Writes

Writers write.
That’s all there is to it.

Fingers pounding away on the keys.
A pen gracefully transforming a blank page into words.
There’s no secret.
No shortcuts.
It doesn’t matter how many years one spent learning about writing in school.
Because no amount of education teaches someone how to write.
Only writing does.
And the more one writes, the better the writing.
Yet, even writing all the time doesn’t make someone good at writing.
An art with no formula.
Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you something.

If you think you can write, I assure you that you can.
But you have to write.
Don’t talk about writing.
I say as I write about writing.

Everyone thinks they have a story to tell.
Most don’t have the discipline. The insanity. Or the creative spark.
Some wannabe writers jump from writing project to writing project.
Never finishing anything they start.
Writers finish.
They don’t worry if it’s bad.
No writer captures a sentence perfectly the first time they type it.
Get it written down.
Fix it later.
Don’t get caught in the perfectionist trap that captures wannabes and professionals alike.
The first thing a writer writes will always suck.
The second thing, too.
The third, the fourth and on and on.
At first, the writing will be bad.
Bad for a while.
But writers don’t give up.
Writers keep writing.
Once a writer finishes something, whether good or bad, they know they can stick with it.
Finishing the key for writers.

Some wannabes speak of books they’ve been working on for a decade.
Or the ideas they have for dozens of novels.
Detailed plots.
Thought-out characters.
But no words.
They’re talkers.
Not writers.
Talking about a story puts out the creative spark; the need to tell the story.
Writers know that creativity dies in the public’s eye.
The influence of friends, family, lovers, and strangers can dim any writing fire.
Turning a potential masterpiece into a figment of the imagination.
Don’t be a talker.
Be a writer.
Writers write.
And that’s all there is to it.