“If you want to be a Writer, write.”

It sounds so easy. Like a math problem;

“The average book is between 200 and 400 pages, this equates to between 50,000 and 100,000 words.  If Jimmy is writing a book at a rate of 1,000 words per day, how many days will it take to finish his 200 page book?”

But when it’s your book, your story, it is more complex.  What if the muse abandons, or you get into the habit of over-writing, or simply run out of original or even interesting things to say?  Are you still a writer? Is writer even an identity a person can inhabit?

Writing is a journey, it teaches us as much about ourselves as the finished product will ever teach others.  It exposes our priorities, our hiding places, our coping mechanisms… Take this morning as a case in point, rather than stare at the cursor on this page, I rearranged and tidied our deck! (Please dear reader, remember that I am the least naturally domestic person alive, I loathe housework!)  I even contemplated the dishes rather than face the accusatory stare of that blinking cursor.

However uncomfortable the exposure, the fact remains that I must write, the words will not be denied, and while the blank-page accountability is uncompromising, it is also freeing. There is strange kind of clarity that emerges from the tangled, distracted, mayhem of my mind when I sit down to write.

It turns out that, at this place in my life, writing is self-care. Writing is mind-yoga.  It centers me, reminds me to be present. So, like yoga, and meal prep, and taking my vitamins, and drinking my water, writing needs to become a daily habit.

1,000 words a day.

Like crunches for my soul.

Because, if you are to fully be a Writer, you have to write.

Grace and Peace.