Writing Gets Easier with Practice (I promise)

Today is Thanksgiving here in the U.S. – a day for family and friends – and eating. (Oh yes, lots and lots of eating).

Today is a day we give thanks for the incredible abundance in our lives in terms of our relationships, our health and the well-being of those we love, and a long list of creature comforts.

I have much to be grateful for today – I’m incredibly blessed to be surrounded by those who love me and for so many other things.

Yet, today is also a day of sadness for me, as well. I lost both of my parents over the last several years and the holidays always make that loss just a little bit harder. Rather than dwell on what is missing in my life, however, I want to focus on some of the positive memories I have. Therefore, today’s post is a piece I originally wrote for my eNewsletter subscribers. In it, I talk about my dad and how he and I shared a love of writing – well, the idea of writing anyway!

Writing was, and always will be, a connection I shared with him – and for that I am truly grateful.

Hope your day is a blessed one. Happy Thanksgiving!

Today’s Post:

Have you ever noticed how much easier something becomes once you make it part of your daily routine?

This concept applies to making healthy food choices, adopting an exercise regimen and yes, even to writing.

Some believe that writing is a talent you are either born with – or you aren’t.

I disagree.

While writing may come more naturally to some people, it is definitely a skill that can be polished and improved upon with time and lots of practice. Now, not everyone will be able to create Pulitzer-prize winning work, but I do believe you can learn the basic rules of grammar and sentence structure – and then “unlearn” them when necessary (i.e. when they get in the way of the conversation you are having with your readers).

In other words, if you can have a coherent and meaningful conversation – you can learn to become a better writer.

But you will have to sit down and actually write.

I have always loved writing – and have been an avid reader for as long as I can remember. Reading and writing were passions my dad and I shared – and something we used to talk about often.

Fact is, we talked all the time about all the writing we were planning to do – for him, it was about characters and settings and story lines. For me, it was always about launching my own writing business and making a go of it. (For some reason, writing novels has always seemed an awful lot like really hard work to me).

At that time, my dad and I also happened to be two of the most non-productive writers you ever saw. But, boy, we sure did like to talk about it. Somehow, amidst all that talking and planning, we rarely got around to sitting down and actually writing anything.

Unfortunately, my dad passed away suddenly almost 9 years ago and took all those great ideas and stories with him. I never did find out how his passion project – a novel we had been discussing for years – would end.

It still makes me sad to realize that I never will.

I also find it more than a little ironic that now that writing is a major part of my daily life – he isn’t here to be part of it. I think he’d be pleased at the progress I’ve made as a writer – and am positive he would push me to become better. Likewise, I am positive the habits I’ve established by sitting down to write something – anything – every single day would have inspired him to do the same.

So, regardless of whether writing is something that comes easily to you – or if you find yourself staring at a blank screen more often than not, I encourage you to carve out time each day to start getting your thoughts down.

It doesn’t matter how much or how good what you produce is initially, once you make this part of your regular routine – patience and practice will take care of the rest.

I promise.