Why Write Regularly

Probably it cannot be said too often that regular writing is the route to better writing. Also, I think it is the route to a stronger connection with our gift/talent/strength, so that when the inevitable breaks come (sickness/family emergency/etc), we can get back into the groove without too much effort.

I was talking with a writing friend today who said she'd read a John Grisham quote saying he wrote every day; hungover, sick, depressed, you name it, he wrote no matter what. My response was, "Hell, I don't believe it." What about a gallbladder operation? Maybe he does, heaven knows, he is prolific and I enjoy his novels a lot, but seems unrealistic to me.

Somehow we have to find our regular writing pace that is able to embrace and withstand a day or a week when the gods just will not let us write. Grisham may write hungover, but with a bad migraine and trips to throw up, I am not up to writing. So there, Mr. Famous Writer.

I've found myself moving into another kind of habit. That is of starting my writing with a note to myself. This morning I found myself urging myself to be strong about this goal to write a novel because, I said, "This novel really needs to be written, and you're the one to do it." I don't know if this will remain a habit, but it's a gentle way to start.

I also was pleased to hear myself saying to my friend of the Grisham quote, "I need every bit of help I can get. Talking to you, my on-line group, all the help from Emily and her blog and etc., from myself......Anything." As I talked to her, I almost felt I was pleading my case. "I've been so badly damaged it's hard to believe I am really a writer and could really write a publishable novel, so I'm going to get all the help I can . Read books about novel writing that I once would have considered "beneath me."

I'm also getting ready to do a first for me thing. A short story that is almost finished, but needs extensive editing is going to be mailed as a gift to some good friends who like reading and writing as much as I do. I've even been playing with the idea of making a little cover that captures the tone of the story. This is indeed self-publishing on a mini-scale, but so what. It's a risk. And if it turns out to not be helpful, I won't do it again. I'll just do something different. Oh, I'm also going to look for some desperate small magazine/journal, scruffy and needful, and send my story there. Heck, it's been ages since I had a genuine rejection slip. This year I think I'd post it, label it No. One, and keep going.

From a writer feeling a welcome surge of self-confidence in her ability to keep on.
Claire Holcomb