On Writing...Or Not

I like to write. A lot. I've been writing stories for as long as I can remember, and I don't think I'll ever stop writing any time soon.

Like most aspiring writers, it's my dream to maybe someday get a book published. How cool would it be to walk into a bookstore and see your book, an actual, physical book printed on paper and everything, with your name on the cover? I would probably explode from all the awesome.

But I don't just write because I want to get something published. I write because I need it to live, like oxygen. It's hard to explain if you don't know where I'm coming from, but writing has become my escape.

The writing advice that most authors give to fans of theirs on how to become a better writer or how to hone the craft is simple: just write. Write everyday. Write on the bus. Write during class. The more you write, the better you get.

I've tried to follow this advice. I can't seem to bring myself to write every day, no matter how much I want to. It's like my subconscious mind urges me to instead spend three hours on YouTube or read Harry Potter for the hundredth time. The wandering mind of a write is dangerous, because when it wanders for even just a little while you are plunged into the land of daydreams and the prospects of returning before you watch Mean Girls three times don't look good.

Writing is hard. It gets even harder when you realize that what you are writing could very well be crap. Like, the crappiest of crap. And even though you're fully aware of the fact that first drafts aren't supposed to be perfect, you can't help but think yourself doomed and never want to write a word again.

I know this feeling. I've experienced it many times. But the thing is, no matter how many times I curse the words I've written or mope around because I can't write a scene the way I want to, I always eventually find myself back into my element, writing words so fast that it looks like my fingers are doing the foxtrot across my keyboard.

That's what makes me a writer,  I think. I don't give up. I'm persistent, and stubborn. I'm a perfectionist, and always want to top what I've previously done. And overall, I have vision of the things I'd like to get done, and will work hard until I see them through.

-Meg