Give Your Job As A Writer The Respect And Attention It Deserves.

Art For Art's Sake: Vol 2 Part 1

Photo by Darius Bashar on Unsplash

I only write when I'm inspired,
so I see to it that I'm inspired every morning at nine o'clock.
– Peter De Vries

One of the biggest mistakes we writers make as creative is not treating our craft with the seriousness we'd give to a regular job.

Just because it is something "creative", we treat it like a hobby. And us not being serious about our craft - giving it the respect and attention it deserves - gives others around us a chance to pull us down and away from our creative expression.

What's funnier is that majority of our friends who hold regular jobs don't have their hearts or minds in their job. They are surviving their jobs for the paycheck. They need that paycheck and therefore take their jobs very seriously.

And then we come in, wanting to pour out our heart, mind, and soul into our writing - something that has the capacity to change or move our fellow humans at a deeper level - and yet we don't take this job seriously enough.

Writing is a noble profession, and it should not be taken lightly. The pen is definitely mightier than the sword. Only if you fully embrace the writer in you, above all.

Now the question arises - how do you treat your writing with the seriousness it deserves?

Give Writing The Respect And Attention It Deserves

The quote by Peter De Vries at the beginning of this essay says it all.

People think that creativity happens when inspiration strikes. That is not the case. Creativity happens when we go after inspiration with pen and paper.

Yes, creative light bulb moments do occur, but they won't happen if we are not primed and ready to receive them. So for that to happen, we have to clock into our writing job, just like you would in a regular job.

I have noticed that the more I write, the more I get ideas for future essays. The more I try to figure out my writing business, the more I am shown different ways to grow. Some days I am writing, and some days I am managing the backend of the writing business, but I am never not being a writer.

I respect and understand the gravity of being a writer, and I make sure that Writing stays my priority most of the time. Even if it's for 30 minutes a day, I make sure I am pushing the Writing ball forward.

Find Your Process

A creative job, like Writing, is different from a regular job.

There are clear-cut steps to go through when conducting a regular job. When it comes to Writing, every writer's way of going about their writing will be different.

Some write for 6 hours a day, some just need 2 hours. Some take years to finish their first draft, some take months. Some need to write first thing in the morning, others are night owls. Some track their writing through word counts, some through the satisfaction they felt when the writing session is over.

Every writer is different in their approach to their way of writing. And they will have varying definitions of success. This means it is crucial for you to figure out what your process looks like and what your definition of success is.

Understanding how you function as a writer helps you be productive and satisfied with your work and yourself.

Once you know who you are as a writer, you can work your way through your writing without being influenced by what others say, want or expect from you.

Mastery Over Labour

Once you choose to be a writer, you decide to walk the path of Mastery.

In regular jobs, you labour your way to the top. In a creative job like Writing, you are not only learning about the craft, but you are also learning and evolving at a personal, deeper level. This evolution inside you - both as a writer and a human - makes you stand apart.

Walking this path is like walking the less-trodden path that the general crowd avoid. This path can be lonely, tiring, and even scary. There will be phases where others laugh at you and ridicule you. There will also be a phase where you'll not achieve any society-approved achievements - income, house, car, marriage, kids, etc.

If you ever want to embrace your writer self, you must become comfortable with this.

Once a writer, you are not normal anymore. Therefore you can't hope to behave and live like normal people. We creatives think differently, feel differently, live differently, love differently. Which is why the usual crowd don't understand us.

This is one place where writers fail their dream of writing - trying to fit in with society while also trying to stand out with their writing. You can't have both at the same time. And you can't half-ass whatever it is that you choose.

Mastery requires you to sacrifice whatever you consider "normal."

Are you willing to do that?

And if you are, will you do whatever it takes to keep anything from distracting you from my writing dream?

Being a creative, be it a writer, painter, dancer, actor, singer, etc., requires guts. It requires you to stand strong and hold your ground. When you do that - when you give your craft the seriousness, respect and attention it deserves - your craft will come up too and stand next to you.

And together, you'll be ready to take over the whole world.

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