Practice makes perfect

Hello again! I hope 2022 is treating you well so far!

Today I thought I'd talk about one of the least fun facts about writing, and life in general really... practice.

I wish I could tell you that I was a natural-born writer, that writing is as easy as breathing for me, but it's not. I am a storyteller by nature, but writing takes far more discipline for me than simply making up a story on the spot. 

I have said before that I wrote my first story at nine years old, which is true, but it was a two-page handwritten story that I had told dozens of times before committing it to paper. I managed to write two more stories before not finishing another for years. 

By the time I actually started The Shoreline of Memory, I was beyond out of practice, and frankly, the idea of actually finishing a draft after so long was daunting, but by the time I finished it, I was glad. I can tell you that I had grown as a writer 100% by the time I finished the first draft, and I continued to grow as I went through the effort of polishing that draft into a book. 

With every word I write, every draft I finish, I become a better writer. Every time I ignore the imposter syndrome and manage to fend off the writers' block for a little while, I grow because of it. 

I know this sucks, and I wish I could tell you anything else, but if you want to grow as a writer, you need to write. If I could offer one word of comfort to any other struggling writers right now, I'd like to tell you that you will thank yourself for going through this one day. One day you will look back and see that by fighting against your inner demons, whatever they may be, you made yourself into one HECK of a writer. 

I don't know if I'm there yet, but that doesn't mean I'll stop trying, and I pray you won't either.

Now, this post is pretty heavy, so let's end on a fun note, shall we? Here is my first ever story, and a recent attempt to reimagine it.

Have a great day, and keep writing!