Writing Effort

Writing well takes time and effort. It sounds like such a simple and obvious truth, but it's one that many writers fail to grasp. To do something well means first spending a lot of time and effort doing it badly. That learning process can't be skipped over. Writers have to slog through all the bad writing to get to good writing and that slogging process takes an incredible amount of time, determination and dedication. It means you have to write every day. You don't have to write well every day. You just have to write every day, even if what you're writing is trash. It's the daily act of writing, week in and week out, year in and year out, that finally breaks through the barrier and brings you to a higher skill level. There is no short cut for this process, yet many writers expect to reach greatness without first putting in the work. But the reality is, you not only have to put in the work, you have to love the work. You have to love the daily hammering out of words and sentences and paragraphs. You have to love the editing, the rewriting, the deleting and starting from scratch, because these are the things that will lead you to great writing. In fact, you have to love the process so much that the process is what matters to you most, not the goal. To write and to write daily, no matter what else is going on, is the mark of a true writer. Good or bad, famous or unknown, all true writers share this daily ritual. Write because you have to, because nothing else matters more, and you can reach your goals.