We all had to begin somewhere. Young wide-eyed writers with dreams and pen and ink and the courage to change the world. We had much to learn. . .but we have no idea the journey that laid before us.
I asked my writer friends what they wished their younger self knew about writing:
“. . .Organize, organize, organize.” —Krystle Kwiatkowski
“. . .Don’t let life get in the way of your passion.” —C. D. O’Dell
“. . .Persistence is more important than talent. Also, you don’t know everything, so be open to learning!”—Wynn Bishop
“. . .Start early. Don’t let anything stop you.” – T. N. Wilaro
“…it’s not a straight trajectory toward complete fulfillment. Sometimes you’re good, sometimes people don’t want to know. Remember Herman Melville.” —Cassandra Clark
“. . .waiting to start until you are ‘ready’ is a trap. You are always learning and growing and becoming better — or at least, that is the hope, and everyone has to start somewhere. I would tell my younger self to believe in herself much sooner.and not let doubt eat up so many years.” —Ruth Keyes
“I wish I had enough confidence to just sit and write. I always knew I wanted to write, but I thought a college degree was necessary to write something worthwhile.” —Sara Baysinger
“I was certain ‘success’ would happen quickly for me. I would tell my younger self to plan for a much longer wait.” —Ben Wolf
“. . .it will take a while to write anything decent, and that’s okay.” —Laurie Lucking
What about you? What do you wish your younger self knew about writing? Comment below!
I wish I’d known sooner that the first few words of any writing session are the hardest. Once my fingers warm up, they flow easier, so on some days my first few words are pure gibberish.
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Oh, I’m with you! Sometimes it’s hard to force the words to come, but in the end it’s worth it. 🙂 Thank you for sharing, Shannon!
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