Why not? Write, that is.

I’ve spent a lifetime reading.  Without a book or a magazine or a newspaper in my hands, I feel adrift.  I can’t just sit somewhere with my thoughts.  I need to read to fill my time.  Somewhere along the way, my interest in reading morphed into an interest in writing.  Maybe it was my dad, who managed to publish a number of books on the business and art of writing, but sadly never found a publisher for any of his attempts at fiction.  Or maybe it was just the hubris of my attitude that if others can do it I can, too.

After years of thinking of great opening lines but not knowing where to go from there, I drove home one evening and outlined a story in my head.  I sat down that night and began to write.  A year later, I had completed an 80,000-word novel.  A year after that, I had rewritten it into a 120,000-word novel. 

More importantly, writing that story opened the doors of creativity.  Since then, I’ve written somewhere around forty short stories, completed another novel, half completed another one, and have ideas bursting from my head.  There are many more novels and short stories in my future.  I’ve even started writing haiku and have managed a handful of poems.  If not for my job that pays the bills, I have no doubt I could fill my time with writing.   

One of the things that has bothered me ever since I started this little writing quest of mine is the number of people who say some version of “I want to write, but I can’t” or “I wish I could do that, but I don’t have time.”  The worst is this: “I have this great story to tell, but I don’t know how.” 

If you’re one of those people, here’s my advice: Stop telling yourself you can’t.  Stop telling yourself you don’t know how. Stop saying you’re not creative enough or don’t have enough time. In other words, just stop. And start. To write. If you need some help, there are websites all over the place. Writing groups galore. Take a writing class or attend a writing conference.

The best website I’ve found is toasted-cheese.com.  They have a number of discussion forums, as well as critique forums where you can post your work and receive usually gentle, but realistic and honest comments about your work. In addition, Toasted Cheese publishes a quarterly literary e-zine and has daily and monthly writing prompts to provide ideas to get started. 

If you don’t think you have the time, you do.  Get off of Facebook, stop watching television—just for an hour a day. In that hour, write 250 words. Do that five days a week and you’ll have a novel by the end of the year. Once you start, though, you’ll find more than an hour and write more than 250 words.

I used to have all of the excuses, too. I still find plenty of reasons to avoid writing at times, but I have rededicated myself to it this year. For the first time, I have started a blog and stuck to it, posting to it regularly. I started blogging here, much to the dismay of some. And, now I have big plans for 2012. My two novels and short stories will be published within the first six months of the year. My niece wants to make a movie from one of my short stories and a web series from another. All of this, when seven years ago I was just like you. I didn’t have the time. I didn’t know how. I was afraid to try.

So, again, just stop. And start. To write. You just may be amazed by what comes out. And if you ever need advice or support, drop me a note.