Let’s get one thing out of the way: You are a writer.
- Even if you don’t write every day.
- Even if you haven’t ever published anything.
- Even if you don’t intend to ever publish anything.
- Even if your grammar and spelling are atrocious (I had to look that word up to be sure I spelled it correctly…)
- Even if you haven’t (yet) used a single one of these weekly writing prompts as an actual prompt for writing.
Pat Schneider, the founder of Amherst Writers & Artists, and mentor to my writing inspirations taught me that we are all writers. If you can talk, you can write. Talking is just “writing on the air.”
Maybe you do more writing on the air than on the page, as you tell stories and share your ideas. Maybe you write emails or Facebook posts. Maybe you write reports or articles for your day job. Maybe you write sporadic journal entries for yourself alone. Maybe you intend to write more, and in the meantime, you read good writing, or read about writing, or think about writing. You are, after all, reading an email about writing.
You are a writer.
Here’s what I am learning: a writer doesn’t have to be only a writer. You have to have a life you are living in order to have something to write about. If you use words to tell stories and share your ideas, you are a writer, even if you sometimes spend more time thinking about what you could write, than actually moving your pen across the page or clickity-clacking on your keyboard.
Don’t get me wrong—time spent putting words on a page is extremely valuable—life-changing even—and every one of us would benefit from more of it. I just don’t want you (or me) to give up because we haven’t achieved a certain amount of words or finished (started?) our writing project.
So keep reading/thinking/dreaming about writing. Then put some words on a page. Ten minutes here or there. Weekly, daily, occasionally—it all counts. You have stories and ideas that only you can share. Write a few down.
“You are already an artist; all you have to do is take up your pen and begin.”
Pat Schneider
a writing prompt
When in doubt, start with a list.
Make a list of some things you have done today instead of writing.
My list so far includes:
- a few rounds of “Phase 10” on my phone
- a slow walk around the neighborhood with the extremely sniffy dog
- starting to vacuum then cleaning the vacuum cleaner
- setting upcoming deadlines as tasks on my calendar
- finishing the book “Four Thousand Weeks“
- starting a grocery list
Now, choose one thing from your list, and write more about it. Start by describing what that task entails, then just keep writing. Even a paragraph counts, writer.
