I read several blogs about writing and blogging, and many of these occasionally include lists of what one should and shouldn’t do. Some days I read these with interest, take on board what I think is useful, and ignore that which is less so.
Other days, I can read just one article, and obsess for hours over something I do regularly, that a writer/blogger supposedly ‘shouldn’t’ do. This says nothing about the blogs I read, but plenty about my state of mind at the time of reading.
Today, I stumbled across an old blog from Fuel Your Writing, about becoming a writer. The message is simple – Don’t complicate things. To be (or become) a writer, all I need to do is write. If I were to have a list of rules for writing, this would certainly be first thing on that list. What else would be on it? Not a lot – it might look something like this:
1. Write
2. Live – do stuff you enjoy, spend time with people you love, maybe take some pictures. Enjoy yourself
3. Write some more
4. Read as much as you can. Work out what you like, and what you like less
5. Write. Read what you’ve written. Maybe get someone else to read it
6. Ignore any rules that let you hold yourself back
7. Write.
Can you see the theme here? If I had a list, it would look a little like this, but who am I to set the rules? I’m just here because I love to write.
How do you feel about your writing? Do you ever wonder whether you’re ‘getting it right’?