Want to be a writer?

by wayne osborn

 

            Thousands, perhaps millions of people throughout the world relish the idea of being a writer.  Indeed, there’s something romantic about being your own boss and marching to the beat of your own drum, not to mention the creative aspect involved.  Who wouldn’t want to get paid to create something out of nothing, to be the artist who works with the written word and designs a masterpiece on paper, where previously there was nothing?  What about the adoration of millions of people throughout our global community we call Earth? The chance to touch so many lives in a positive way; that is exciting indeed!  Yes, there are many, many people who share this dream.  There exists an industry unto itself: “how-to” books proliferate       by the score, and writing seminars are found at just about every community college in the land.  With all of these resources available to writers, how come a lot of people who want to become writers don’t ever actually write much?

 

Someday, my dream will come true…

 

            The answer lies in the “tomorrow” syndrome.  Did you ever realize how easy it is to say “I’ll do it later?”  Procrastination is the enemy of production.  Writing is a process (insert quote from famous writer here) that involves lots of sitting on your butt and just doing it.  Let’s examine an activity that requires action in order for results to happen: weight lifting.  There’s lots of books and magazines available on this subject. There’s even a lot of television programs and classes that you can take to become knowledgeable enough to lift weights carefully.  However, it all boils down to this:  you’ve got to LIFT THE WEIGHTS in order for any change to occur!  You can read 2 books a day for a year, but that won’t help your physique any.  Action is necessary for growth.  The same thing applies to writing.  You can read books about it all day long, take as many “how-to” seminars as you want…but if you don’t actually DO IT, you are not a writer.  You may want to be a writer, you may call yourself a writer, but unless you are actively involved in the process of writing, you are not a writer.

 

You can’t think your way to writing success

 

            Wouldn’t it be great if thinking and wishing about something was enough to make your dreams come true?  That would be nice if you could wish your way to success.  If, instead of dealing with that pile of dirty laundry, you looked at it and wished really hard that it would become clean.  Obviously, not much is going to happen…your clothes will remain dirty.  ACTION is required to clean the clothes.  What about your job?  Let’s say you are on the grounds keeper for a large apartment complex.  It’s time to mow the lawn, but what a gigantic job it is!  How about reading a book about lawn mowing?  It’s really inspirational, full of quotes by famous landscapers and loaded with techniques to keep the grounds looking top notch.  Is that going to accomplish your task?  No…it may be a stepping stone on the way to getting your job done, but in order for the lawn to be mowed, you’ve got to take action!  The same thing applies to writing.  You need to take action in order for anything to be produced.  That is the key word: produced.  You can’t sell something that doesn’t exist!  Just as a recording artist can’t market a CD with nothing on it, a writer needs to get words on the page.

 

            Thing’s don’t just happen. Someone makes them happen.

 

            That’s a great quote!  Writer’s Digest School sends it to every one of their students, with the instructions to put it up on the wall where they’ll see it every day.  Make sure you do the same thing.  Surround yourself with positive affirmations.  Remove distractions, and FOCUS on your goal.  Write things down on a list that you will see every day.  I’ve got my list posted right by my front door.  Writing is something that is definitely on my list.  I’m always working on at least three different articles.

 

“You don’t establish a reputation based upon what you are going to do.”

 

            That’s another great quote that I like to keep circulating around my brain.  You can talk up a storm, and dream to your hearts content about what a great writer you are going to be, but unless you TAKE ACTION and get going, you might never get there.

 

Where does the time go?

 

            Unless you just want to write purely for the fun of it… there’s nothing wrong with that!  In fact, if you don’t get satisfaction out of the writing process, then this probably isn’t the right creative outlet for you.  If you like to write, think you can, but just haven’t got around to it…read on!  You need to develop a different mind set towards your writing.  Think of writing as your job.  If someone were to tell you that you can make an extra $1000 a month by writing part time (a very realistic figure!), would you be willing to devote one and a half hours a day to your “job?”.  Based upon those numbers, that’s over $22 dollars an hour.  Now ask yourself this question: how much time do you spend watching television every day? Probably easily over an hour and a half.  How much money do you get paid to watch TV?  Do you get creative satisfaction from watching TV?  Can you build a respectable career as a freelance TV watcher?  Will you be called upon to be a guest speaker at a television watcher’s convention?  Clearly, we all know that television is the ultimate time waster.  Those familiar with the internet know that, while there’s a wealth of educational resources available on the net,  it’s possible to spend WAY too much time online as well.  The fact is, unless you’re working two or more jobs, or are going to school and working full time, there’s probably some things in your life that you can eliminate to find the time to write.  We all are given the same amount of time each week: 168 hours.  It’s up to us to make sure that we spend it wisely.

 

Think of writing as your job

 

            That’s the mind set that you have to adopt in order to carve out a productive writing career for yourself.  When you have a job, you have to show up for work.  You can’t put it off, do it later, or phone it in.  You need to show up and put in the time in order to get paid; to remain a member of the team; to be productive.  The same concept applies to writing. You need to get things written in order to have something to sell.    No one is going to knock on your door and say “We really want to buy that great book/article/screenplay that you’ve been thinking about.”  Nobody is going to buy a blank page.  You need to “show up for work” on a consistent basis.  Treat your writing as a job.  Establish a schedule for writing, and stick to it. You will find that once you start working on a project, ideas will come to you at the strangest times.  Carry a pen and paper with you.  Things will start to happen once you begin to make them happen. 

 

            Not everybody can be a professional writer. It’s up to you…the ball is in your court.