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Tag Archives: writing
There are a lot of things I haven’t done.
Let me re-phrase that. There are a lot of things I had the idea to do, planned on doing, then just didn’t follow through with it. (There are even more things I haven’t done that I haven’t thought of doing yet.)
But…
There are a lot of things I have done.
So, have I done things because I’ve thought of a lot of things to do, and at least some of them have happened? Does the principle that the guy with the most home runs has the most strike-outs apply here? Or he who has the highest number of stolen bases also get thrown out the most?
Does a lot of success necessarily mean a lot of failure?
I saw a quote today that says, “Success and failure. We think of them as opposites, but they’re really not. They’re companions – the hero and the sidekick.” by Laurence Shames
To me, that means that in order to do great things, you need to do a lot of things.
And the way to do a lot of things is to get the ideas from your head out into reality, so they have some form and substance.
And the way to do that is to write.
That’s why blogging is so good for you.
There’s something really amazing about writing. Do you know what it is?
It’s like giving birth.
Kind of. (I don’t want to get too deep into the analogy here.) It’s like creating something, producing something. It’s taking your thoughts and pushing them out onto the paper (or screen.)
And sometimes it’s painful. It doesn’t come out right, or we might be a little ashamed of it. Why is it always uncomfortable when someone is standing over our shoulder, watching what we are writing? (Everyone knows the old trick of cupping your hand or holding your arm real close to your pencil when someone walks by or tries to look at what you’re writing.) Only after you are complete are you ready to show it to someone. But even then, it’s still a little unnerving because you hope they don’t make fun of it, or criticize it. It’s your baby.
And most people are sensitive to that with real babies. They don’t say, “Well that’s an ugly one, what did you create that for?” (Even though they may be thinking it.)
Everyone realizes that the process of giving birth and bringing a new child into the world is so amazing that it doesn’t matter what it looks like, this mother has done such a tremendous thing, she should be praised and honored. And what she produced should be loved, protected and handled with the utmost care.
Shouldn’t we treat other things that people create in the same way?
It’s Exhilarating
The other point is that producing something is exhilarating. Maybe because it’s so painful. Just like any great accomplishment. If it takes hard work, it feels good when you’re complete, and you can take pride in what you’ve accomplished.
If it’s easy, there’s no reward. No pain, no gain.
So I’d like to create more. I’d like to have more babies – mind babies – getting ideas from my mind out into the world.
That means writing and making things happen.
What about you?
Experienced another breakthrough epipany – so I must write.
I’m an Actor
I’ve been acting like a writer lately at work, interviewing people and writing their stories. I guess the reason I’m doing it is because it’s kind of fun for me, even though I’m a total amatuer (although I have been told by some writers that I’m not bad, which is probably why I keep doing it.)
I Have Good Friends
Last week I was talking to a friend of mine who is a writer and I was telling her how I was kind of dabling in her business. Since she is very nice and friendly, she gave me some good advice: read copyblogger.com.
It’s kind of funny because it’s one of those things that have been right under my nose for a long time and I never saw it. It is one of Seth Godin’s recommended blogs, so why didn’t I think it was worthwhile?
Love at First Read
So when I went to copyblogger.com I quickly scanned the blog post titles and immediately fell in love. Then I started looking at the most popular posts and said, “where have you been all my life?” I guess I must really be a wannabe writer if the stuff they talk about on copyblogger gets me so jazzed. (Of course those who know me know that I get jazzed about a lot of things pretty easily.) (Which you might be able to tell from my posts.) (But never mind that, this time it’s for real.)
Here is the Best Advice Ever
So here’s one of the most popular posts on copyblogger: 10 Steps to Becoming a Better Writer
Which is why I got motivated again and immediately wrote this post.
No, Actually it’s This One
But then I read this one: The Two Most Important Words in Blogging
And totally blew it in this post. Do you think it was because I didn’t want to or just habit? There, now I can say I used them.
Then Again, Maybe…
I do love writing when I produce something good. But I am pretty slow. It takes me a long time to craft a sentence sometimes. Then later, I remember how hard it was and how long it took, so I wimp out and don’t do it again.
Which is why this post grabbed my attention and gave me some good stuff: How to Write an Article in 20 Minutes.
Advice is Cheap… and Powerful
I could keep going, but you get the point. A friend gave me a little advice, read copyblogger, and that turned out to be the best writing advice ever.
