To Be A Writer You Must Be A Reader

 One of the habits that might be the hardest to establish if you are aspiring to be a writer is to spend more time reading than writing.

Yes. I said it. Read more than you write. 

I say that because the knee-jerk reaction of a new writer is to just write, write, write. But....

You must read literature to write literature. There is no better way to learn how to write than to read from those writers who have come before you. That especially goes for genre writers. You may love romance, mystery, sci-fi, fantasy, etc. 

So, you want to write in that genre.... Then you better read everything in that genre. Study it. Learn from it. 

What have you been reading lately? Is it helping your writing goals?

Dare To Write Despite Every Failure

 You want to write. You do it for a day, a week.... maybe longer. Then, you stop.

I get it. Writing is hard... Very hard.

You compare yourself to the greats: Shakespeare, Hemingway, name your favorite genre author...

We don't compare. But there is hope... We aren't them. We are who we are. And... we have a unique perspective.

So... write about that. Dare to write. Dare to write despite every perceived failure to write which you might believe you have weathered. 

Another Post On My Love Of Books

 I bought a $600 Volvo wagon just before winter storms dumped several inches of snow here in Bloomington, Indiana.

Considering I had spent $500 during the summer to buy a brand-new extra large Schwinn bicycle, I thought the 1999 Volvo was a good buy once I peeped out of my bedroom window the first morning after an overnight snow storm. 

"No riding my bike to work today. Thank God!" The Volvo company was founded in 1927. I looked it up - really, really, really grateful that day.

The wintery weather has abated. My $600 Volvo is still running - despite the arm workout I get every day when I drive it. The power steering is going out. But this post isn't about how grateful I was to have a car during winter. Of course I was. No... this post is about the freedom having a car gave me to drive around my new digs here in Indiana. 

And... more specifically, this post is about how my car allowed me to visit my favorite bookstore: Half-Price Books. 

Here's a little background... Most of my books are in storage in Texas. When I moved to Indiana, I arrived here with one duffel bag of clothes and a backpack with a few magazines, books, journals and pens.

Since I moved to Indiana approximately a week before Covid hit in 2020, I wasn't able to travel back to Texas during 2020. All my favorite books are missing me. And, I have missed them, too.

The first day I drove to Half-Price Books here in Bloomington, I felt like I had returned home. I don't remember how long I spent inside the store. I started from one end of the store and went from section to section scanning book spines, eyeing the displays of featured books and finished at the other end of the store with a stack of books in my arms. 

My biceps, tired from steering my Volvo with the failing power steering, were aching even more from carrying all the hardbacks and paperbacks in my treasure trove of the written word.

Bartlett's Familiar Quotations - $3

The ScrewTape Letters - $1

An Incomplete Education  $1

Just a few titles I picked up that day. I spent less that $20 that day. Every book was either $1 or $3.

So now, I have a library in the making. I am reading... on a budget.

For that, I am thankful for my $600 Volvo. 

Now... I can possibly search the stacks at Half-Price Books and add to my exile library a few titles from 1927, the year Volvo was founded:

Elmer Gantry - Sinclair Lewis

The Story of Philosophy - Will Durant

To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf

Bridge of San Luis Rey - Thornton Wilder

Aspects of the Novel - E.M. Forster

At least I can carry all those books now that I workout every time I drive.

Finding Your Voice Again After Life Throws A Monkey Wrench On Your Plans

 It is easier to give up than to persevere. 

But you are better than that. I'm better than that. Despite what life throws at you. I know a little bit about the adversity that can humble even the proudest of human beings. And that would be me.

Proud until I was humbled. Sure... I am to blame for many of my poor decisions... But not all of them. 

I stopped writing when I lost my family. Separation followed by divorce. The creativity stopped. Self-loathing replaced it. Drowning my sorrows in alcohol. My reading stopped. My writing stopped.

Now... here I am... trying to come back. I have loved the written word since childhood.

Yet, I let my life, my circumstances, sabotage my love. Can I rebound? I don't know the answer to that question. But, I am going to try. And, from here on out on this blog, is my journey. 

I hope you will join me - especially if you have been hit by as many fast balls as life has thrown at me.

My voice will ring true once I acknowledge my pain... my suffering... my reality. 

That is the first step towards redemption.

Starting Over: Forgive Yourself For Not Writing

 Today I decided to start over.

It's a refreshing feeling. You know it. Put your failures behind you. Don't forget them. Just stop stressing about them.

Today I let go of the guilt of not writing. Today I decided to write.

I am a writer. I love it. I really do. I love books. I love short stories. I even kind of love poetry - I just can't write it. I love drama. I remember loving to go to the theater and seeing a play - back when we could. Covid sucks.

That is who I am. I am a writer. I must forgive myself for not writing. You must, too, so that you can get back to writing.

Life happens. I got distracted. You get distracted. We are human. I hope I can help you see that we can recover and rekindle the passion we share for writing and the written word.

I hope I will keep writing to this blog tomorrow. If I do, that means I am forgiving myself for neglecting it for so long. It's simply time to write. Time to do what I know I was meant to do... what I know I'm good at doing.

If you need a pep talk, keep reading tomorrow. And if I'm truly starting over and forgiving myself, keep reading the next day and the next day and the next day...

Stop Dreaming Of Being A Writer

Note: I published this originally in 2017 and now am updating it.

So... You work full-time. You are a janitor. You are a teacher. You are a cashier at a grocery store. Or... you're unemployed because of this whole coronavirus mess. As I write this, the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank more than 1,800 points and the S&P dropped 5.9 percent because it looks like a second wave is at hand.

Maybe, maybe not. I don't know. But... when it comes to your dreams of being a writer...

IT DOESN'T MATTER!!!!

If you know in your gut that you are a writer, or have always wanted and hoped to be... You hear the voices in your head. You dream magically amazing stories in your sleep. You wake up and are like, "Damn! I need to write that down!"

Then... just write. Write. Write. Write.

But... you have Debbie Downers in your camp. You share your ideas with those around you. They say, "That's stupid." Here's a secret: It may or may not be stupid, but those doubters around you saying you can't do this are saying it because deep down inside they are jealous of your aspirations. 

What should you do? Ignore them. Listen to me. Writing isn't easy. But if it is what you want to do. If there's a desire burning inside of you, then... write.

Write it down. Write everything you think is important. Write everything you think in the moment. Write. Write. Write!!!!!

I say again: Don't listen to the haters.

Here is the reality. Most people live life unsuccessfully. They believe that they are not one of the lucky ones who get to be a writer, a movie star.... in short... a success.

They settle. Here's what they tell themselves at night before going to bed and contemplate waking up to do everything all over again the same way day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year:

"I need a job. So... this company will give me a job at XX amount of dollars an hour. I need to pay the bills. This is as good as it gets. Let me make sure the alarm is set so I'm not late for work."

Do you want to settle? No, you don't.

Fall into that settling trap and you will never be a writer. You will only be a wage earner. Life is too short to settle.

Don't get me wrong... You must pay the bills... But you don't have to give up your dreams to do it.... 

You may have to find whatever work there is to be had in this new reality. But use that experience for your writing. If you must work at a warehouse, for example, use that time wisely. Do they let you listen to music as you work?

Bag that. Listen to books on Audible or from your library. Learn about the writing craft. Listen to classics of literature and learn from the masters. Carry a pocket notebook and pen. Jot down all your observations that make sense to you. Squeeze every second out of your day to advance your dreams of being a writer.

Bottom Line: ignore everyone who says you can't do it. Even family has questioned my decisions. Maybe yours has too. But... be brave. Follow your dream.

If you need inspiration and hope, then keep reading this blog. If you have questions, feel free to ask. I'm here.

Find Your Passion

So this is my Daily Journal.

As a writer, you should challenge yourself to write every day. Don't feel guilty if you can't. But... if you really want to write, then you will make time.

Case in point... it is nearly 11 p.m. as I write this. I have to wake up at 3 a.m. to go to work. Yeah... caffeine will be my friend tomorrow.

But... I must develop my routine. What does your routine look like? What you should include is introspection. Look inside yourself.

I looked inside myself, and I found it was empty. But not so much anymore. In one of my previous posts, I stated that we are social animals. We need to be connected with other humans. I feel that connection strongly with a particular woman here in Bloomington.

It is really the only reason I am here in Indiana. I'm a proud Texan. Yet... the heart wants what the heart wants. And my heart yearns for her... my beautiful sunflower.

I remember our first conversations. There was an electricity there. I have a stun gun. One day it was in my pocket. Somehow, I accidentally switched it on and I stunned myself. It was shocking! lol. At that moment, I forgot everything.

I was driving in my car at the time. I swerved when the stun gun went off in my pocket. That is how I felt when I met my Bloomington lady. Stunned. I forget the world around me when I'm in her presence. Only she exists. And I only want to exist to please her. That is the moment.

If you want to be a writer, you must feel passionate about something in some way. It is a universal condition. And... if you want to write for an audience, you must tap into that universal condition.

What are you passionate about? What makes your heart stop? What makes you feel passion? I hope you find it. I hope you do. Write about it. Now.