Keep the rhythm.
Find the beat.
Trust your talent a little bit today. What thing of light, of dark, of horror or light ate going to develop?
What (or whom) will you pull out of the air?
Trust the things your imagination sees and hears. Perhaps even chase a few.
With Love & Ink,
JBHarris
Survey your work.
Don’t be discouraged if you haven’t worked like you wanted to this week. Writing has it’s own ebb and flow–it’s own demands. Each work you begin, each work you end will have its own personality. It’s own process as you embark on the journey to hew out the story from the landscape of your imagination.
It’s a process. Becoming the writer that you want to be is a process. Don’t be discouraged by the small starts. The longest novel is still written one letter at a time.
With Love & Ink,
JBHarris
One of bonuses about reading is you can scope out the competition! Reading the books in your chosen genre allow you to see what trends are present, what tropes are most common, and how the pros do it!
The right book at the right time may encourage you to switch genres, try your hand at a fresh retelling of an old story or a new point of view.
Writing should never be static!
Keep writing! Keep reading!
In Love & Ink,
JBHarris
Aside from your physical writing tools, books are going to be the next biggest investment.
A writer’s library is an arsenal! From pop culture, to reference books, to your own favorites, your library may take a while to get it how you want, but build it anyway!
Your future self will thank you.
In Love & Ink,
JBHarris
The beginning.
The beginning is always the hardest part of any new thing.
The beginning signifies decisions, choices, and the yielding of yourself to something else. It is the start of a new thing.
Your new work? Your new idea? You new thought?
That is your new thing…that is your beginning. That is the place where all things are new, stay new, and subject to your control. Decide to not just start–there is not power behind a start, only a direction or location.
A beginning equips you with a plan and a trajectory! It allows you to have the confidence and power to keep going. So, begin.
With Love & Ink,
JBHarris
Look it up!
Writers are these weird people with thee strangest walking around information!
Example: The pH of blood is 7.35.
Yes, that’s a real fact. But, I digress.
Writers need to remain curious! Things that intrigue you, scare you, turn you on, look them up! Your research base as a writer needs to be ever expanding!
This includes words you don’t know—vocabulary is still your meat and potatoes. Remember that.
Good luck!
I believe in you!
In Love & Ink,
JBHarris
I never set out to be a blogger.
I thought since I considered myself writer, most writers didn’t become bloggers. I think that is a little elitist looking back on it. The steady quote I ground myself with is by Christopher Priest:
“A real writer can write anything.”
It wasn’t until a recently as 2 years ago, that I finally was brave enough to call myself a real writer. I was afraid if I did, that I would be adrift in the creative world around me. However, in reclaiming my talent, and being confident in what I knew I could do. I was a writer. In being a writer, I could write anything. No topic is strange. No idea too far. I could even start a blog.
I said ‘yes’ to my talent. I said ‘yes’ to projects, and being a part of creative spaces. Saying ‘yes’ allowed me to own all I would create. I was free to develop my craft and voice. I reclaimed my artistic self. It is from, for and because of that reclamation, that you have found a space here, dear Writer-Scribe-Oracle.
You don’t know how far you will go if you never go.
All work starts with a yes. No matter the size, topic, width and breadth of the work, all starts with a yes. Here is what you say yes to.
YES I will:
-claim the title of writer.
-write this story/essay/post.
-write about new topics.
– be confident in my imagination.
-follow my imagination to its conclusion.
Becoming a writer, holding that title, is incredible. The mystery lies in you and your ability to give weight to what it is you create. Or desire to create. Give yourself credit and appreciate the progress as you go.
Writing, like life, is a journey.
I believe in you. Take your pens, your cache of paper, and full imagination and create. Go solve your own mystery of the talent you hold. One word at a time. But go.
