Our Worst Weapon

Is ourselves.

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Hey guys!

So today I wanted to talk about the one thing that keeps, and has kept, thousands of writers and bloggers alike from doing what it is they’re good at: write.

Despite their long-held beliefs, they are most definitely not out of good writing ideas. They do in fact have an audience (who they may simply not know about yet) that eagerly wants to hear what they have to say. And that exact thing they have to say does have validity, because it’s their blog, it’s their words, and that means it’s anyone’s chance to express themselves.

This fallibility is what has kept me from being able to consistently keep up with a blog or make it to the end of writing a novel. It’s called persistence. Persistence and determination and a whole lot of self-confidence. You can’t possibly let self-doubt creep on into your shoulder and start whispering dark things into your ear. Because I don’t know about you, but when I write, I need to write with absolutely zero distractions. And if there’s a little voice constantly bringing you down in your ear, well, after a while it’s hard not to listen, and it’s even harder not to begin to believe it.

But you musn’t.

Trust me, the key to being able to write is to, well, write.
Write badly, write bizarrely, write in a different language, write seriously, write in a different voice, at a different time, on a different medium. Just do it.

The problem is though, that as easy as it is to say “Yes, I’m a writer/blogger.” it’s a lot harder to live up to that description. I mean, you wouldn’t say, “Yes, I’m a Christmas light installer” if you only put up your Christmas lights once a year (and then leave them up there all year because nobody will notice right? Right? Yeah.) But as hard as it is to make time in your busy schedule (school, family, chores, work, etc. etc. etc.) for something as trivial as writing, it’s really, honestly not that hard. All those spare minutes spent checking your phone in the day easily could add up to a minimum of a half hour (if not more). A full half hour to yourself, your thoughts, and a blank page filling up with words you once never gave yourself enough importance or time to express. You just have to commit to it for long enough to make it a habit, and then you won’t even have to think about it.

Another problem I often run into on my journey to get into a habit of writing every day is my own self-doubt. How many times have you really badly wanted to put something on your blog but just felt like the idea was too “weak”, too “insubstantial” to write publicly about?

“But what if nobody reads it?” You ask.

Well, what if somebody does?
What if that one loyal reader wants to hear everything you have to say? What if soon that once-“lame” article transforms into a blooming blog with top-notch material 24/7? How can you possibly know if you always shoot down what could be your greatest ideas?

Don’t let the pressures of an audience that hasn’t even been formulated yet get in the way of experimenting and writing anything and everything that comes to your mind or fuels your passion.

Anyways, not too get too preachy (especially when I myself struggle with all of the above symptoms) but I mean, if you can put working out (or eating a pint of ice cream while binge-watching Orange Is the New Black) at the top of your priority list, then you can definitely make time, and have enough confidence, to write whatever your heart and mind tell you to. Just give yourself the chance and you may be surprised.

Until tomorrow friends,

Regina L.