This week I’m speaking at a writers’ conference in Seattle. I’m excited to meet the writers and hear their stories, because writers are made from special cloth.
Whether you write in the privacy of your own journal or on a blog or in the form of notes to your kids, there’s something brave about putting words onto paper.
I wrote this manifesto to share with the writers I meet this week—and with you, too. In case I don’t get to sit down with you in a one-on-one session, happy writing!
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This Is How You Write
Write it down. Scratch it out. Start over again.
This is how you write.
Write. Edit. Delete. Cry.
Breathe.
Rethink. Rewrite. Reorganize. Revise.
Repeat.
This is how you write.
Put on your sweatpants. Get a cup of tea. Plant yourself in the chair and tell your fingers to type.
This is how you write.
Spend time with imaginary people. Fall into a rabbit hole of research. Believe that productivity isn’t always measured by word count.
This is how you write.
Chain-read books. Soak up the different voices. Then find your own.
This is how you write.
Ignore the laundry, the dishes, the clock ticking inevitably toward dinner.
This is how you write.
Eavesdrop at the car wash, the grocery store, the DMV. Store up nuggets of dialogue.
This is how you write.
Get a snack. Check Facebook-Instagram-Twitter-YouTube. Stare out the window. Get another snack.
This is how you write.
Create, like your Father before you. Mark this space as sacred.
This is how you write.
Also: ignore the people who say “This is how you write.”
Do it your own way.
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What else would you add to the list about how to write?
Love your statement, “productivity isn’t always measured by word count.”. I would add… Grab a big mug of coffee and escape to your beautiful place… In a room, on the porch, in nature… Where your thoughts can find their voice ;).
Yes! Good words, Jennifer. It can get so loud in our daily life that we miss that inner writer!
I love the wrestle of writing to describe!
I’ll add: Speak only to what God has been speaking to my heart. Not worrying with what sounds smart or important. Not worrying about anyone else.
Yes! So true, Jen. If you write what God has put on your heart, it will never be wasted!
You write because you can’t NOT – unless there are other things to do that are easier, faster, and more socially validated – and then you write anyway, sometimes at warp speed in your pajamas until 4 p.m.
I love that image, Cheryl! “At warp speed in your pajamas until 4 p.m.” You are a writer!
I don’t. Well that is not entirely true. Two things I only do to the Lord are write and sing. He loves them both.
He is the best audience for both!