How To Persistently Walk On Your Writing Journey?
Art For Art's Sake: Vol 2 Part 6
A creative line, such as Writing, requires us to be persistent.
If you look at the definition of Persistent in Merriam-Webster, it says -
: continuing to do something or to try to do something even though it is difficult or other people want you to stop
: continuing beyond the usual, expected, or normal time; not stopping or going away
Now if I put that side-by-side with my writing journey, here's what it looks like -
2014 - I have the epiphany of becoming a writer.
2014 to 2017 - I start to rewire my belief system as a human and writer.
2018 to 2021 - I find my writing process.
2021 to 2023 - 1 year and 9 months I put that process into practice in the public by writing and publishing my work online.
2023 - I became a published author.
I had moments of defeat a million times that made me wonder if I should step away from this writing journey. But becoming and being a writer was far more important to me than anything else. So I stuck with it, even though I saw no light at the end of the tunnel. Thank God, I continued on this path because I learnt that the light I was looking for was already in me.
The question is how - even though I saw no results, no encouragement, no support - I kept going persistently with your writing journey?
Here's what I did - I took the next best small step I knew.
Be it Life or a creative endeavour like Writing, all you can do is take the next small step. The step you feel is the best and suitable step for you to take.
It could be about the scene you are writing or the business move you can make to uplift your writing career. All we have is our wisdom, knowledge and intuition to guide the way.
We must continually learn and understand the needs of our writing journey and move accordingly.
Ask yourself: What does my writing journey need right now? How can I help my writing journey?
Is it blocks of quiet time to write? Is it setting up your author profile and shop on Amazon? Is it figuring out what your protagonist is doing next? Is it taking a break and recharging your creative batteries?
And you don't want to be leap-frogging; you want to take it small and steady. Take measured risks to not hurt yourself or your writer soul. Break down big tasks into small, manageable ones. Big goals into small milestones. And find a pace that you can maintain.
Over time, your effort and your words compound and will bring you results.
So, what is the next best small step you can take today in your writing journey?
