One month down, forever to go
One month ago today I made a commitment to write on Medium everyday. Initial goal: one year. But knowing myself as well as I do, it’ll probably become a habit and an addiction and I’ll write everyday forever.
What’s wrong with that? Nothing.
It’s been invigorating, enlightening and good for my soul. Of course, as in every other aspect of life — there are challenges. In being a writer, the number one challenge is running into writer’s block. But being a part of the Medium community has exposed me to so many great writers that have both inspired and pushed me to keep going. As a result, I have come across helpful suggestions as to how to tackle such a challenge.
Of one of the first posts I read contained a simple message that has stuck with me since. It basically said that the first step in being a writer is saying you are a writer. So with that I present this:
I am a writer. It feels good to say it. I have been writing since I was nine years old. I began writing poetry (my first love) in school and I had an English teacher in seventh grade who paid attention to and supported my work. He even helped my parents find a publishing company to publish my work when I was 13 years old. That was an insane experience. Unfortunately, the company ended up filing for bankruptcy so I never had a chance to promote my book, but at least I can say I’m a published author.
When I had children, I dreamt about writing a children’s book. I had so many ideas and kept writing them down. I started a lot of my story plots, but it just stopped there. Chapter one existed but then none followed.
Then a couple of years ago when my daughter became a teenager, I had a vision to write about raising a teenage daughter and the adventures that come with it. That was the furthest idea I carried, but due to a hardship that existed in my family, I had to put the idea on hold.
I was devasted. But I only had myself to blame.
Last year, I came up with the brainchild to write a memoir. I didn’t have a computer at the time, so I began an outline of my chapters and started writing by hand. It had been so long since I wrote for lengths at hand that I had forgotten how exhausting it could be. When fall came, I finally bought a computer. Since then I’ve been transferring my hand pages to the computer. But when I was almost finished, I found myself running into writer’s block. Hard core writer’s block. Of course I knew what my own experiences were, but I was having trouble putting it altogether. I felt like I hit a wall and I didn’t know how to present my life into pages.
What was happening to me?
Not to fret because it was a blessing in disguise. With any idea, you have to have a plan. I realized that I wasn’t going about it the right way. I used to maintain a blog for five years a while ago, but it wasn’t daily like I intend to do on Medium. Practice is the name of the game. If I was planning on writing a book, I needed to practice writing regularly. And I needed to be committed. Once I realized this and began to put my plan into action, I started to feel my mind open up. Since I began writing on Medium, I am amazed at how many ideas pop up in my head when I sit down to write. Granted, it’s been only a month, but I feel great about my progress and that comes with confidence — something I never had before.
So today, on my one month anniversary, I would like to salute all the writers on Medium for being true to your craft. I am thankful that this platform exists for all of us that have a passion for words. May our words be endless and our stories, never-ending.
Thank you.
