Look, there’s plenty of other parts for this blog that need to get done. There’s a dozen pages to make, a hundred things to do, a million things to say, and a billion things to learn.
Still, I want to remember, and remind others, what the point of this all is. To learn to be a better writer and to become a better writer, with a focus towards serializing. Yet, there is one important thing to teach first.
Before we get into what makes a serial story, before we start discussing the interesting points of fiction and publishing speeds and word counts and understanding cross-cultural themes and expectations, before we delve into character design and plot planning, before I even really explain what the hell this whole thing is for . . . we’re going to start with the fundamentals, because some cannot be forgotten.
Do you want to be a writer?
If you don’t, you can safely skip over the rest of this post. I would guess if “you want to be a _____” it might be worth reading, but for writer’s, it’s paramount.
So, do you want to be a writer? Okay then, write.
Write.
Write.
Write write write.
A writer is a person who writes. Therefore, if you are not writing, you are not a writer.
I know, there are an innumerable number of other things to deal with. It is the most trite, stupid, and boring answer to the question you can ever get. But it doesn’t matter. That’s what the answer is.
If you spend most of your time reading about writing, you are a reader. If you spend most of your time researching the skills needed to write, you are a researcher. If all you do is think about writing, you’re a thinker.
I’m no saint. I just spent three months learning how to write and build a blog. I started the actual blog, today (editor note: that was a week ago, by the way {editor 2 note: that was yesterday}).
Now, after three months, what did I do when I got to this point? I threw out my whole idea, started over, and began drifting again. Worse, for the six months before it, I was thinking about maybe possibly considering saving money up to eventually do research on this blogging course to possibly try getting back into writing.
Shut up.
Just, shut up.
Sit down and write.
Or stand and write. Or strap your feet to a pair of boots bolted to the ceiling, and dictate into your phone. I don’t care, and neither should you or anyone else as long as it’s ethical and legal where you reside. I’m not here to judge, but I am here to be honest. . . . Try to be healthy. Try to not be creepy or destroy your future writing just to get words on the page now. But write.
Everything else comes after that.
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