Work It Out
Like all muscles, our writing muscles must be flexed often. A former teacher of mine said we must prime the pump. So choose your metaphor. I like the muscle one — they are called writing exercises, are they not?
If you want to get fit, keep your writing lean and mean, you need to work out. That means writing every day. Every single day, putting pen to paper. Sure, you’re allowed to take breaks, but try it for a week. Try writing every day.
Start a blog, keep a journal, write on a napkin, but do it every day.
When you start writing every day, writing becomes less precious. Your darlings are no longer darlings and can be easily killed.
You have a better chance at writing good stuff.
You start to hear your writing.
Your voice has a chance to percolate.
And you’re practicing. We all know practice makes perfect. In the case of writing, practice makes better. It’ll never be perfect, but it can be better.
So grab your bottle of water and a sweatband. Sit down and write every day. Even if it’s for a week, you’ll find your writing will improve. And, as a bonus, you’ll have all that new content to play with. And yes, you’ll be sore, but you’ll also have big, lovely writing muscles.
