A Writer Must Write
A writer has got to write. Writing is like therapy: it is good for the healing of your mind, body, and spirit. Writing a journal gives you a chance to express your ideas in any way you choose. A journal should be kept personal and private and since this is so, you can pray, pour out your soul, scream, holler, cuss and say anything you want about anything and anybody without being judged. And because no one is judging you , you don’t have to worry about spelling, grammar, sentence structure and all of the technical parts of writing.
A few years ago I joined an Artist Way Seminar Group. The purpose of this program was to help open up the portals of creativity that a person has within her/his spirit. One of the activities which was a major part of this wonderful program was something called “writing morning pages”. You were required to get up an hour earlier than you usually did and fill up three sheets of a legal pad with writing. It really didn’t matter what you wrote, the idea was to just write. You were also told not to read what you wrote until weeks later. I thought that I really didn’t have anything important to say. I just knew that I was going to have a writer’s block. But since there was no pressure to write anything profound or wonderful the first thing in the morning, I was free to express any thoughts and ideas that came into my head no matter how silly, stupid, wonderful or creative they turned out to be. I could complain to my hearts content ; I could make promises to God or myself; and yes I could even include my shopping list if that was what I needed to do.
The interesting thing about my morning pages was that it cleared my mind of a lot of clutter and trash and it really did open it up to more creative thoughts. Before I took Artist Way, I had an idea that I wanted to write a novel. Since completing Artist Way, I have written five novels and I am still writing every day.
The bottom line is this: Writers must write. If you want to call yourself a writer, then you must write something every day. Does it have to be a three page legal pad? No, but it should be more than a shopping list. Keep a journal so that you can express your views both positive and negative. This keeps your mind , body , and your spirit healthy. Then go forth and write that poem, an article, a letter, a short story and yes, write that novel that is lying dormant in your creative imagination. Remember writers, you must write something everyday . It is important.
Find out more about books that I have written at http://pjrbooks.com