Writing Tip #1: Start!

I used to dread track meets. You show up to the track at 6am to warm-up with the team, only to have to wait another 5 hours until your actual event. I would jump around, eat bananas and granola bars. Listen to some music to try and calm my nerves. There was so much build up to the race that I almost made myself sick with nerves. Then the dreaded words finally came…

“Runners take your mark…get set…BANG!”

Once that gun when off there was no turning back – I had to keep going. But the funny thing is that it was never as bad or as hard has I had built it up to be in my head. Once the race started and I caught my breathe and got in my groove, I actually enjoyed it.

Writing can be like that. There is so much build up that we can drive ourselves into mental insanity before we even start. Thoughts like, Do I really have anything worthy to say?… I’ve never been a good writer… Maybe I should wait until I have a better idea of what to write… What if no one likes what I write?… crowd our minds and keep us from rolling up our sleeves and starting!

But today, hear this. Once you start, you WILL find your groove and discover yourself as a writer.

“Writers take your mark….get set…BANG!”

The race has begun. Are you in it?

Try This: Buy a journal or notepad and commit to writing for 15 minutes each day. Don’t think about what you will write or how it will turn out. Just write whatever comes to mind. Break out of your own mind and write freely! Learn to get past thinking about the end product and learn to enjoy the process of writing…for the sake of writing.

Happy writing my friend!