I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions, but I’m making a writing resolution this year. I’m committing to doing my own writing which all too often gets back-burnered.
Earlier this year, a group of writers was surveyed about how they would feel if they didn’t write. Their five most common answers:
“I’d never know if I could have made it.”
“I’d never find my voice.”
“I’d never get to show others what I’m capable of.”
“I’d hate not having the freedom to do what I want.”
“I couldn’t live a life true to myself.”
I don’t know about you, but at least two of those sentiments echo my own feelings. But there’s another, stronger emotion that haunts me. I know I have books inside of me. There’s that children’s series I’ve been planning for more than ten years. I’ve been noodling ideas for a novel based on the years I lived in a tiny ski resort in the Sierra for even longer. Two nonfiction book ideas are now merging into a single concept that wrestles with the notion that all too often how we see the world limits us as individuals and as a country. And then there’s the memoir I just started thanks to the arrival of my 18-year-old nephew and my new role as Auntie Mom.
In short, I’ve got to make my own writing a priority. And that’s not easy to do, even for a writing coach.
Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely love helping others bring the books inside of them to life. But I need to birth my own books as well. I know that process, indeed that struggle, will make me an even better writing coach.
So here’s to 2013 and a year with no writing regrets! May all our of projects begin to see the light of day.
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