Practice, Practice, Practice
Recently at a
dinner party with people I was meeting for the first time I said,
"I am a writer."
"I
used to work in a big fancy corporation like you do, but then I decided to stay
home with my children, and I thought maybe little old me could try to put a few
words on a paper, and now I am sort of trying to, like, write a children's book
or something." Illustration note: A blond-haired
gerbil shrinks a little with each word until in tiny little 8 point font she squeaks,
"I have a blog too."
Well, it
didn't come out exactly like that. It
was more like:
 |
| via sxc.hu |
I waited
for the response, presumably "Oh, that's nice dear." But instead I heard "Oh, that's
wonderful. I always wanted to be a
writer!" Illustration note: tiny gerbil grows bulging muscles and smiles from ear to ear.
The
guest proceeded to tell me a story about his college writing class. It went something like:
On the first
day of class, the teacher told everyone to write for ten minutes. The students shuffled in their seats and
stared at blank papers. They didn't know
where to start.
The next
week she tortured the class again with the assignment. After 10 minutes they dreaded handing in the
unassembled bare thoughts they had written.
She did
this every week until the students wouldn't stop at ten minutes. She had to cut them off. The teacher told the students, "I didn't
even read your papers the first week. I
started reading the third week. By week
five there was actually some pretty decent stuff. You have to practice. You have to do it every day."
I
remember my first month of writing when I thought I had three manuscripts
ready. But they were only "week 1"
quality. In the flurry of my 10 Query in July challenge, I have 6 manuscripts I think are ready. But, if it turns out I'm still only at
"week 5," I know what I have to do.
PRACTICE. PRACTICE. PRACTICE.
Lauri: I am a writer. Just write.
ReplyDeleteYes sir.
DeleteLauri, I am a writer, too. Write every day. Commit to it like you would exercise or dieting or hugging your children. The payoff is awesome.
ReplyDeleteI am going to go hug my writing right now!
DeleteYes, Yes, Yes. The more we write, the more we become writers!
ReplyDeleteooh, I like the thought that if I wrote today then I can proudly say I am a writer today.
DeleteYou're absolutely right. Practice is essential to keep those writin' muscles limber.
ReplyDeleteI also used to keep gerbils; they are adorable and wonderful pets.
In short, I love every single thing about this post.
I like gerbils too. But the most excitement was when I had a girl mouse and a boy mouse. They liked to, um, "practice" a lot too...
DeleteI own two female fancy rats, Lucy and Ethel, who, ahem, practice as well.
DeleteI remind myself of this every day: write something! Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's hard, but I think the consistency is the key...like working out! Loved the story of the college prof who didn't read any of the beginning assignments!
ReplyDeleteOh dear, let's not look at my (lack of) trips to the gym over the past month. Maybe I need to link the two some how - I get to write for an extra 15 minutes if I work out? hmmmm.
Delete