You’ve Got To Do the Work

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyone who knows me really well knows that I like the idea of a cup of tea. I enjoy the ceremony of making the tea but very rarely do I drink even a third of a cup of the tea.

I meet many people who have the same approach to writing, They like the idea of writing. They fantasize about what it would mean to write a book but when it comes to writing, facing the page they quickly disappear.

I once had a woman who attended a writing workshop share her fear about what she would wear on a talk show once she had written her best seller. Only problem this was never really ever going to be a problem in real life as she wasn’t doing any writing.

If you want to write or want to be published you have to write. You have to write either everyday, or as often as you can.

I have been journal writing for 25 years. It kept me from getting sick. It helped me understand myself and other people better and it has helped prepare me for becoming a writer. I find it hard to let my journals go as they have become a part of life and my existence. With them I exist

In the writing game you have to be prepared for the long haul, to face rejection (rejections are a requirement of the writer’s journey) to know your own limitations and keep writing in spite of these until you get better (and if you have faith you know that once you keep showing up to write in time you will get better, everybody does).

Okay so you may never write that best seller. But guess what writing a best seller comes with its own set of problems and challenges. And for all the success that best selling writers have they as a select group are few and far between and most will have behind the scenes grafted for many years outside of the public eye, so don’t be fooled.

But very often we miss the real gift that writing brings us. When we write with a conscious awareness, when we create a rhythm and a flow with our writing we get connected to the feeling of satisfaction that is generated through regularity and structure.

We throw this gift away when we are forever focused on the end product and we miss the rootedness, the wholeness and sense of purpose writing gives us when we are committed to doing the work and being with the moment.

I will often share with writers on workshops and retreats how I feel undone when I don’t write in my journal. How I show up to the day crabby and find it easy to pick arguments with my partner because I have resisted turning to the page first. I liken journal writing to a daily prescription that helps me stay sane and well.

• In 2014 how will you turn over a new leaf?
• What and how will you do your writing work?
• Think of three ways journal writing could support you in have your best year yet?

Stuck for getting started with journal writing then why not purchase a copy of my new book 49 Ways To Write Yourself Well available in paperback or on kindle:

Click here