People ask me how to become a great writer. I tell them to write. Write the crappy stuff. Write the bad stuff. Write the ridiculous stuff. Get it all out. Because behind all the crap, or buried in all the muck, could be your best work yet.        WipGirl

I open a new Word document like I would tear a sheet from my old typewriter and hastily load a fresh new white paper into the machine.   A fresh new piece of paper was like a blank future just waiting to be created.   

Now I look at a fresh blank white screen on my Mac and I don’t have the same tingly sense of adventure.   

I can’t smell the electricity making it’s way through the wires, and feel the hum of the typewriter on the table before me.   There’s no cartridge return to pull and jerk, no loud clickity-clank of the keys as each finger firmly pounds the letter until the corresponding key - actually physically hitting the paper in front of it. 

It was carnal – the creation of words on paper.   

Now we stare at blank screens waiting to be filled and we revel in the smell of ink as our tiny printers spit out our hopes and dreams in the shape of an 8 1/2 x 11 sea of glorious paper.   Yet, if this paper were never printed with these words on them – as so few are these days…do our words still hold the power they used to when they held the physical form? When you could hold them between your thumb and forefinger and contemplate the meaning the author intended.   

If our words exist only in a virtual form and are never to be touched by the physical hand – how can we ensure they touch the soul of the person we had envisioned when we created the piece in the first place?   How can we know that these words crafted by your creative instincts, by your vision, imagination and love will reach the person who desperately needs to hear them?   

How much of your own energy do you truly place in the writing you create?   

Do you go as deep as you should - to uncover the true meaning your reader needs to experience - in order for this piece to leave an impact on their thinking?   Does going deep scare you? Do you get nervous during or after the process?    

Why?    

Do you consider nerves good or bad? There is no right or wrong answer, it is all as you believe. If you believe nerves to be bad, then they are.  And every time you feel your nerves they will have a negative affect on you.  If you believe nerves to be good, and you think they help you enjoy the process more, or perform better…then they are good.  And you will see yourself commanding your butterflies to fly in formation and work on your behalf.   

As a writer, we can often be process oriented, or end result oriented.   

Do you only envision your work in it’s completed form? Or do you get lost in the process and often have many rewrites because your focus gets a bit muddled as you feel your subconscious being pulled in many different directions?   

Every writer has a different process.  The key is to develop a process that serves you and brings out the best in your writing.   Many writers feel they write their best in the morning, or in the middle of the night when the house is quiet. It is exactly as you believe it to be.   One process may work beautifully for one author and fall completely flat for another.    

How have you discovered your process? 

What things have you tried?    

Do you listen to music? Do you write at a desk, rocking chair, the floor, or on a bed? Do you need fresh air when you are in creation mode? How do smells affect you?  

When writing - are you completely oblivious to your surroundings? Do the dishes and food pile up around you? Do you barely remember to pee, (and when you do it’s pretty spectacular)?  Until finally the juices and energy come to a halt and you regain your senses enough to notice the world around you.   

Take into account things you’ve never experienced before and allow yourself to be spontaneous. Write in a restaurant all by yourself with a glass of wine and a gorgeous, sexy piece of chocolate cake. Go to a museum and surround yourself with beauty and “become one with your laptop”. Or head to a river, sink down in a lawn chair, and listen to the movement of the water as you delve into your spirit.    

Regardless of  your location, it’s a matter of allowing the words to easily bubble to the surface of your imagination.   

You have to be willing to take risks and infuse pieces of your soul, your personality, your imagination…yourself really, into your writing. Insert a piece of your essence into your words and send them out into the world to be free. Allow them to grace the mind of your readers. Believe that those who need to read your work – will. Write with a sense of anticipation that your words could positively alter someone’s life.   You have the power to make a life changing impact on another human being. And, it is all based on how much of yourself you are willing to put into your writing…this determines your ability to connect with your reader.   

Getting in the game and placing your thoughts out into the world is brave. Sharing yourself in this way can be a bit nerve wracking, but most  importantly…it will help you grow faster than anything else.   

People ask me how to become a great writer. I tell them to write. Write the crappy stuff. Write the bad stuff. Write the ridiculous stuff. Get it all out. Because behind all the crap, or buried in all the muck, could be your best work yet.   

Remember, it's not what you write next week that matters, it's what you write in the next hour that can change your life.

WipGirl

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