Why Write? Why Not! 2 - Just Do It

   Do all writers suffer from writer's block?  No, but a lot do.  Don't let it stop you.  Keep dreaming!

  

    I’ll be the first to admit that it’s a lot easier to write when you have a great view. This month I’ve worked from a shaded terrace where palm trees and mangoes frame the blue of the Indian Ocean.  It’s easier when you don’t have a lot of worries to weigh you down. But don’t think I am worry-free.  Everyone carries something heavy.  That is part of being human and alive.

The key is this: keep on writing or preparing to write. Do it every day and have faith in yourself. Tell yourself: I am a writer. I will write today, I will write tomorrow.

Does it matter what or how much?  Not a bit. Will it be a few sketches in a notebook, a description of a character, or a phrase that grabbed my imagination so fiercely that I scribbled it down on a napkin at the cafe?  Cool.  

Durning my darkest days in 2015 I became blocked. This is a part of being a writer and, as is often the case, it was stress that blocked me. My husband was fighting a battle against cancer and the doctors informed us it was fatal, our medical debt was rising, and it felt like my world was melting.

When I penned the first four books, I’d been relatively worry-free. My husband saw I was blocked and he encouraged me to get that fifth book started. I began scribbling the first three chapters while we waited for radiation treatments, and outlined the plot as we sat close and joked around in the chemotherapy unit.

He reminded me that the secret to writing was to write even if it was only a few lines every day. I did and I do. It took a very long time before that fifth book was finished but once I’d healed from the loss of that marvelous man, I kept the faith.  He believed in me and over time I learned to believe in myself.

So, when you feel blocked by life from expressing yourself stick out your tongue at it and just do it anyway. (You know, within reason and legality!) What counts is that your happiness - so dream big and live well.  Write, create, paint, sing, dance, laugh or feel the bliss of contemplating life.  Problems will always arise, but if you open yourself to seeing a way beyond them, you will have the opportunity to express yourself. Just do it - and you will feel the joy.  And if you want to, share your joy with me.  I’m on your side!

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