Tweet It’s the top of the new year. While you’re still returning gifts and spending those gift cards, I bet writing’s in the back of your mind. And here’s what it’s saying. You shouldn’t write because: You’re not a “real” writer. This could mean different things depending on your triggers. You may equate real writer, for example, with paid or published writer. Maybe it means being an author or a traditionally published author. You have nothing to write about. Sometimes the belief that we have to write something profound and award-winning can make us feel like what we have to…
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Tweet In The Courage to Write, Ralph Keyes says: “Just thinking about being a writer can be scary (as well as thrilling; the two tend to go hand in hand). Saying-even to yourself-“I’m a writer,” or “I’m going to be a writer,” or even “I guess I’ll do some writing now,” feels presumptuous; like a five-year-old playing make-believe for bemused grown-ups.” What makes calling ourselves “writers” so scary? Doctors, teachers, heck even my husband can spout out their careers as if they were describing the weather. Whereas I? I fumble through the word inaudibly. Fear of Being Judged I think…
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Tweet It’s almost Halloween, but I’m not talking literal here. {Though I must admit the visual of a glow-in-the-dark pen, a notebook and a flashlight sound pretty cool to me.} What I’m talking about is what happens when you write with your mind half-conscious, semi-aware. Even as a full-time writer and someone who writes every day, I still catch myself doing it too. And it’s not a pretty picture. I think somewhere a long, long time ago, I got the impression that I wasn’t that creative. And more importantly, that I was a terrible, terrible writer. So instead of fessing…
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Tweet photo by: RogueSun Media I say “acting” because that’s what all writers feel at some point in their careers. That we are all acting, pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes, pretending that we are actual writers when there are days we wonder if we’ll ever really deserve the title. That’s how I felt on the days I put on my mask and became “the journalist.” Since I got my degree in English not Journalism, I wear that badge with both fear and trepidation. I don’t want anyone thinking that I (god forbid!) am a real reporter less they mock…