We writers live under a heavy cloud – the pervasive, suffocating mantra that “writing is hard.”
Okay, yes, it’s difficult to make time for writing. We have jobs, family, chores, hobbies, and dangit if we don’t like to watch TV every now and then. (Big Bang Theory and Dr. Who undo my evening productivity.)
Then, when we do make time for writing, and we finally sit down in the chair to write, we often feel a wall of resistance. We stare at the screen, hands poised at the keyboard, motionless…
It’s in moments like this, when we’ve rearranged our comfortable lives to sit in front of the stiff keyboard, and the words won’t come. This is when we begin the refrain in our head that “writing is hard.”
But writing doesn’t have to be so hard.
Finding time is hard. Starting is hard. But once you’ve started, writing can be easy. Tell yourself that writing is easy, and writing can become easy.
After all, typing words isn’t so hard. You can type words all day long. You can type words that make sentences for hours.
It’s when you start judging your words that you trick yourself into thinking that writing is hard. You type a few words that make a sentence, and then you say to yourself, “That doesn’t even make sense!” or “That doesn’t sound nearly as good on paper as it did in my head.”
That’s the moment you let the resistance win.
Don’t judge your words as you write them.
Let the words flow as they will.
Don’t force them out. Let them come.
Create space, allow time, and just start writing.
Writing isn’t hard. It’s you who is hard on yourself.
Just write some words for now, and worry about re-shaping the words later.
Set a timer for 15 minutes, take a deep breath, and write – easy.
What about you? Is writing hard, easy, or somewhere in between?
Leave a comment below. Let’s talk about it.