Writing Begins

A first blog entry is an odd thing. With nothing before it, it has no context to exist in or stem from. It just springs up out of nowhere, trying to look like it fits perfectly in its surroundings, but at the same time trying to change those surroundings with its existence.

A blog is like a mission, I guess. It starts when it starts. No stars align just so; no event marks its inception. It just begins. In a way, all writing is like that, isn’t it? A page will stay blank forever if we just leave it alone. It seems obvious to say that books don’t write themselves and poetry doesn’t appear out of nowhere. Writing begins. And we who write are the ones who begin it.

But beginning can have many forces arrayed against it, most of which we call into action ourselves. We don’t begin because we don’t have time. Because we don’t know how. Because we aren’t ready. We push back beginning further and still further. Or maybe we never seriously consider it at all. We just don’t think we have what’s needed to begin, much less go on from there.

So, what can this blog do about it?

This blog is for you if:

• You want to start writing but haven’t
• Or started but gave up
• Or you’re writing but not submitting your work for publication
• Or submitting but not getting published
• Or getting published but not enough
• Or you’re doing all this but just want to do it more and better.

Here’s what I hope this blog will do for you.

• I hope you’ll be encouraged to get started or keep going.
• I hope you’ll be informed, and that information will help you feel empowered.
• I hope you’ll be constantly reminded why you want to write.
• And I hope you’ll be convinced that you can reach your writing goals.

Writing begins. And we who write are the ones who begin it.

We’re very lucky as writers, because it takes almost nothing for us to get started. A writing implement and a surface is really the foundation of it all. There’s no inventory to buy, no space to rent, no equipment to purchase. We don’t need a degree or a license or a certification. We can just get a pen and paper and start. Just like that.

In fact – why not right now? Do you have a pen and paper near you? Grab them. Turn to a clean page. Write down something you’ve been thinking about lately. Maybe it’s a relationship, a stress in your life, a joy you’ve experienced, a question you’re wrestling with, a memory. Maybe it’s a story you’ve thought about writing, a poem that’s been forming in your head, a topic you’d like to write a book about.

This is how it begins. Just like that. It isn’t fancy or showy. Nobody will likely even know you did it unless you tell them. But you made a beginning, and there’s magic in beginning.

What next?

Keep reading. Each blog entry will help you take another step forward – finding time in your schedule for writing, staying motivated when it gets hard, being encouraged when you lose faith in yourself, improving your craft, finding your way to publishers.

You’ll see that you can reach your writing goals, even if you think you don’t have time, don’t have talent, don’t know enough, aren’t good enough.

First, let’s explore how you define success and how you can set goals that will support that success. We’ll do that in the next blog entry, so come back and keep reading. Because this is how writing begins.

Photo credit: jakeandlindsay on Visualhunt