[From the Archive] Babies Can’t Write
Computers make our lives both easier and harder when it comes to writing. Easier because you can fix most mistakes before anyone sees them without having to retype entire pages because you forgot a comma or typed “teh” instead of “the”. They’re harder with all the things that can distract you while you’re trying to write – like oh, solitaire, the Internet, and major system upgrades.
On Tuesday we upgraded my laptop from Vista to Windows 7. Which meant yesterday was my first attempt at figuring Windows 7 out, and I totally forgot to write this post. I remembered about the time I went to bed last night. So now, I’m rambling while my morning coffee kicks in. Lucky you. Welcome to a writer’s life, and as I continued to blank on a topic, I scanned Twitter. Thank you Jane Espenson and Shannon Butcher. You guys are responsible for what comes next.
Over the last couple of days I’ve “tweeted” back and forth with Shannon K. Butcher, paranormal and suspense romance writer. She’s a beautiful and talented woman – please buy her books – and very, very funny. We got to “tweeting” about the #IDONTWANNAS. Or in “human” speak the constant state of “I Don’t Wanna” which either comes from full time writers getting distracted by life, computer upgrades, etc when they “should be writing”. Or for those of us who still have Day Jobs – the getting through that job to do what we really want to do – write fiction. Both of these leads to the #itdoesntmatterwhatyouwantjustdoit (It doesn’t matter what you want just do it).
Which is what writers do. We DO IT. We apply the butt to the chair and we do it. With all the weirdness and distractions lately, I’m prouder than I should be that I’ve hit my 250-500 word a day commitment every weekday since I started on the 19th. But I made the commitment here, publicly, and I’m doing my best to stick with it. I’m 10 days Word Count Positive. 😎 And I can guarantee not all those words are good ones (I am currently on a boat load of sinus medication – they may be fun words, but not necessarily good words), but I’m doing it. Which is the key.
The most amazing and talented, Jane Espenson, put it in the proverbial nutshell very early this morning – also on Twitter when she posted, “Remember. No one is born a good writer. Babies can’t write.” Dude. Seriously. That’s a simple yet bombshell of both truth and perspective. “Babies can’t write. We all have to learn. We all have to grow into being good writers. We all continue to grow into good writers and then better writers – or we should.
How do you grow into a good writer? #itdoesntmatterwhatyouwantjustdoit. That’s how. It doesn’t matter what you want to do. If you want to be a writer, you have to write. You have to commit to what works for you – 250 words a day, NaNoMo, something. Commit. Do it. Keep it up. Read the authors you like (I recommend Shannon K. Butcher). Watch the TV you like and pay attention to the good TV writers (I recommend Jane Espenson). Find and follow your favorite people on Twitter or Facebook and see what they have to say along the way – and if you want to follow ME, I’m on Twitter and Facebook – just let me know on Facebook how you found me.
Now… beat the #idontwannas. Go. Write. Then come tell me about it.