On the Topic of Writing

I always mean to sit down and write, but something always seems to find its way in to distract me. I tell myself, I'll write in the evening, or on Friday when classes are done, or take a leisurely amount of time to myself on Saturday and jot a few things down. Sometimes, I open a blank page and stare at the cursor, willing it to produce even while my fingers sit motionless on the keys. Other times, I will get about this far into something and delete it all, thinking it all sounds like rubbish before I even really get anywhere.

Even when I can get a few minutes to just type, too often it is stolen away for a school project. Weekly reading journals, micro-writing to build up a paper bit-by-bit, forum posts and replies, along with emails to professors and fellow students capture most of my day-to-day keystrokes. It seems, with what little time I have between school, work, relationships, and sleep, I convince myself I just don't have time to get any more words on the page.

"This summer," I tell myself. "I'll set-up a whole series of posts on various topics and then have them timed out to hit the page on a weekly basis. But, then I took up an editing project, balanced that with my internship, and work and pushed aside my writing. It shouldn't be this difficult finding time to do the thing I tell nearly anyone who will listen that I love to do. "I love writing," I say. "I love the way the words feel in my hands. Knowing that those words are coming from some part of me." But, if it is something I love so much, how is it that I can't ever find the time to do it.

Recently, a friend of mine introduced me to the Podcast Writing Excuses. I love the format, as it is only fifteen minutes long and is perfect for listening to in my car on the way to school or work. I got in on it toward the end of season 10 and have been enjoying season 11. One of the early episodes, titled Newton's Laws of Writing, really caught my brain. The first law, then, is a word count at rest tends to stay at rest. It seems so simple, but ultimately true. The only way I am going to write is to write. Thinking or writing isn't getting any word count down. Planning what to write can be beneficial to word count, but only if you actually sit down to write. Set aside time each day. Don't tell yourself that you are going to do it, actually do it.

I live in a fairly textual world. That's why I felt like I was writing. I write funny retorts for friends political rants, fire off witticisms through Facebook posts, use text and private messages as a second form of speech. My eyes are sifting through text nearly ninety-five percent of my waking life. But now is the time to sit down and just let my mind stretch. I really do love to write, as much as a dear friend loves to go walking. It relaxes me. It is my safe space, though why I post my personal essays for the rest of the world still remains a mystery to me. Even if no one reads any of the essays, though, it still gives me a chance to stretch my mental muscles and do something I feel is creative.



I fell in love with writing at an early age. When most kids were running and playing outside, I was inside. When I would visit my grandmother, she'd try to get me to go out and play. But I was more content with causing mischief inside. To quell the potential danger of an overly energetic youngster in the house-- one that on more than one occasion broke some of her jewelry because I was too fidgety-- she sat me down in front of a typewriter. She taught me how to type and I would spend hours plunking away at the keys. I am sure I looked rather comical, having to go one key at a time and really jam my finger against the keys to get them to leave a good mark on the page. She taught me how to set margins and type columns of print, which I would cut and glue to make my own little news papers.


Each time I write these days, some part of me reconnects with that little boy. The one who was smiling ear-to-ear as he would jab his tiny fingers at the keys. Occasionally, when I get stuck, I am more like the little boy who got his finger stuck between the keys and yelped for grandma to come help. Yet, despite the sticks and sputters and false-starts, writing is the one thing that lets me really let go and relax.

My best advice, for myself and anyone else, is take a deep breath and write. It doesn't matter how perfect it is. It doesn't matter if it is only a couple hundred words. Even if it is only for a couple minutes each day, it is time well spent. Over the course of a month, a couple hundred words can add up. You can build momentum, and you will find yourself spending more time doing the thing you love and less time staring blankly at Facebook or Twitter waiting for the next witty response.