by Merrianna Mutton

Created on: April 25, 2009   Last Updated: April 27, 2009

Maybe you've been asking yourself, "Do I really want to do this?" Or maybe you've decided you want to write every day for the rest of your life. In any case, I hope I can help you develop a realistic but hopeful mindset.

First, let me say that yes, you can do this; you can write. If you can speak and write a language, you can communicate through writing. That being said, what you write may not be fit to be read yet.

If that's the case, find your weaknesses and work on them, but most of all, keep writing. Some of the problems you have now may be worked out by experience and practice. And, annoying as this fact is, the only way to practice is to just do it.

Or, maybe you've decided you want to write every day, forever. Maybe you've set a quota for yourself. That's great! Goals are marvelous, Now let's talk about obstacles.

That picnic that ate up your afternoon, that long movie your friends "dragged" you to, that pile of clutter you really did need to take care of; these things that kept you from filling your quota, this once. And maybe you want to call yourself an idiot or a wimp, but don't or if you do, tell yourself to shut up. Then pick yourself up and start over. Keep writing.

Writing is about communicating, and so it helps to be able to think clearly in order to lay out your thoughts and/or opinions and emotions, so that you can explain them to someone else. Again, this takes practice.

Good grammar helps with clear thinking and therefore, with writing. But you have to practice good grammar, too, and if your friends think good grammar is weird, well, I guess you'll just have to practice it through writing.

You may become burned out from time to time, and feel like you have nothing left to give, no more words to say that are any different from the ones you've already said. And in some of those cases, a rest may be in order. However, these days I find that I don't get burned out quite as easily as I used to, which leads me to believe that maybe, just maybe, it has something to do with experience. So you know what? Keep writing.

"Why?" you ask. "Why do I have to keep writing? It's hard!" Well, yes, it can be. And as time goes on it may not get as easy as you would like. But as that time passes, and as you write more, you'll come to see how rewarding it is. And you just might get better, and better.

Don't get me wrong, it may take a long time to get to a professional level, and to improve, you may sometimes need to do more than just "keep writing". But if you never practice, you likely will never improve. So whatever kind of writing you do, however little time you can devote to writing right now, don't give up. Keep working at it. It may pay off to keep writing.

Learn more about this author, Merrianna Mutton.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.