8 Reasons to Write Something Right Now

Edie Melson is the author of numerous books, as well as a freelance writer and editor. Her blog, The Write Conversation, reaches thousands each month. She’s the co-director of the Blue Ridge Mountains ChristianWriters Conference and the Social Media Mentor at My Book Therapy. She’s also the Military Family Blogger at Guideposts. Com, Social Media Director for SouthernWriters Magazine and the Senior Editor for NovelRocket.com. Connect with her on Twitter and Facebook.

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We writers tend to be an odd lot.

We writers tend to be an odd lot. We obsess about learning to write better. We hang out with writers online and in person. We buy books on How to Write, How to Write Better and How to Sell What We Write.

But we do almost anything we can to avoid the actual act of writing. Nothing shuts down a writer quicker than a blank page and/or a blinking cursor.

We comfort our guilt-ridden internal writer with the promise of writing when

• That closet is clean.
• The yard is mowed.
• The kitchen is organized.
• The garage is clean.
• Facebook is checked one last time.
• Groceries are bought.

You get the idea.

Truthfully, the longer we postpone sitting down and writing, the harder it gets. Avoidance gives volume to those nasty little voices that live in a writer’s head. Voices that say:

• You’re not good enough.
• No one will ever read this.
• You’ll never get published.
• No one will ever take you seriously.
• You’ll never sell anything.

You know. You’ve heard those voices.

Today I’d like to share 8 reasons to write something RIGHT now.

You're not getting any younger.

1. You’re not getting any younger. I know, it’s a cruel truth to begin with. But it doesn’t matter how young (or old) you are, time marches on.

2. It won’t get any easier to start, but it WILL get easier once you begin. The hurdle is the starting. And it’s a hurdle that has to be surmounted every single day of your writing life. Beginning rarely gets any easier.

3. If you don’t start, you’re already a failure and the voices have won. I hear a lot of writers say that if they don’t start (or don’t submit) they won’t fail. That’s a lie. If you won’t start, you’ve already failed.

4. As a writer, NOT writing will hurt you. I’ve seen writers deal with depression, anxiety and other issues that immediately disappeared when they sat down and began to write.

5. Practice makes perfect. There’s only so much improvement you can make by learning about writing. It’s time to put what you know into practice.

Only writing makes you a writer.

6. Only writing makes you a writer. Talking/Learning about it doesn’t really count.

7. What you have to share through the written word matters. Yes, this applies to everyone. We all have things to contribute to the lives of others. The way a writer does this is through the written word. So get on with it, someone needs to read what you have to say.

8. If you don’t, you’ll always regret it. I’ve never met a writer who regretted writing, but I’ve met plenty who regretted NOT writing.

It doesn’t matter if I’m working on a book, a blog post, or something else. I have to remind myself about these things almost every time I sit down to write. We all fight the idea that we don’t have a contribution to make that’s worth the effort.

What about you? Please add to the list of reasons to write, RIGHT now. We’re all stronger together.