Since I am an admitted pantser, I’m sure it won’t come as a big surprise to anyone that I rarely have a subject in mind when I sit down to write my blog. I’ve tried to put together a calendar with topics for this blog but so far that hasn’t really happened. I even bought a blogger’s calendar to help me with that but it’s still blank and probably will remain so. Usually, I just start writing…most of the time I don’t even title it until I’m finished because I don’t know what my main point will be when I start. Usually, it’s pulled straight from my life, experiences, and emotions. Yesterday, I was having a tough Inner Critic day so that’s what I wrote about. My blogs are sometimes pep talks that I need to hear, other times they are conciliatory, and some are kicks in the butt that I also need. I write about them here because I figure that if I need them, others might benefit from them as well. I realize that I have no great knowledge or wisdom to impart so I write about things that have helped me as well as things that have been an impediment. I don’t write to teach people the right way or the best way to do things. For every hard and fast rule there is about how to be a successful writer, there is a bestseller disproving that rule. Some of those rules are probably the reason that a lot of us feel as though we will never succeed as writers so we need to give ourselves permission to break the rules that are holding us back. We will do much better if we just sit down and write the book that we want to write…that we need to write. And when you begin to write, do it fast and recklessly. Don’t listen to critics while getting it onto the page…internal or external…just write. Forget about perfect grammar and form. Right now, we have a story to tell. After it’s written, then we’ll get out the grammar and style books but don’t make it so perfect that the heart and soul of the story are lost. Make it real so that readers can identify with it and the characters we’ve created. Write from the heart and soul…okay, and a little bit from the brain. Basically, when writing that first draft…tell the story. That’s all that really matters at that point. There will be time after it’s written to edit, rewrite, and correct grammar and spelling. So, for now, just write!
Inspired Writer 