Summary
> Read. All the time and everywhere. By reading anything that you can put your hands on, you begin to find your voice and the creative juices get rolling.
>Surround yourself with the industry. Talk to people who write. Read books on the craft of writing (see my previous posts) and join writing blogs and sites on social media. Talk about yourself as a writer. Immerse yourself in the act of writing and soon it will be something you have a grip on rather than a hill to climb.
>Go to conferences. There are tons of them in Colorado and beyond. You can also book yourself a writing workshop or join a blog. This helps to get the words on paper and out in front of people. If you went to the recent RMFW conference, pat yourself on the back.
>Join a book club. Some of my favorite people in the world I met at a book club hosted by my local library. These people read a lot and therefore have an outside perspective. Show them your work and listen to their critiques.
>Perfect your craft. As with anything you do, you should always strive to be better and know more. Strive to understand the industry and perfect your craft. There are so many facets to writing: character development, voice, imagery, structure, editing, etc. The list goes on and on. I know that I am certainly not the best at all of them and I am willing to bet there is something for you to work on as well.
>Be kind to yourself and have patience. Writing is hard work in its own right. You are stuck in your head a lot of the time and that can be stressful. When you put a finished product out into the world it is a part of you and that can instantly make you see its flaws. Know ahead of time that even if its not your best work, and that sucks, it could be made beautiful by time, patience and understanding. Be kind to yourself, see the diamond in the rough and keep pushing through.
>Write everyday. It doesn't have to be for very long, it doesn't have to have punctuation or even make sense. As long as you are hearing the pencil scratch the paper or the keys click under your fingertips it's yours at that moment. You are creating and you are complete. Practice makes perfect, right?
>Absolutely no guilt. I think this is a hard one for a lot of writers. Put the guilt away. The art of writing and being a writer, by no means, gives us the license to be jerks that blow off our commitments , but it does mean that it takes time away from other things. Learn to make it a commitment. Make writing a part of your daily life like brushing your teeth or getting your haircut. We don't feel guilty for those acts of self care so let's not feel guilty for loving yourself and your need to write.
>Make sacrifices. You're going to have to give something up to follow this path. This is the case for most things we desire and writing is no different. Give up that specialty coffee every morning and save those pennies for a writing conference. Give up that extra hour of sleep to perfect a paragraph. Make the hard decision and don't look back. It's worth it.
> Fall in love with writing. FALL IN LOVE WITH WRITING! Just like those new days of getting to know someone, let yourself get excited about writing. Watch this relationship succeed. Be proud of it, invest in it, have faith and wonder and spend all your free time with it. And as you become a stronger writer, fall back on that love when times get tough.
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