As I scrolled through my social media feeds I couldn’t help but see that another human being was thinking about writing a book. Granted, I had never expected this person to be a writer, but who was I to deny them this golden opportunity?
Then I saw it. IT. Staring me in the face, laughing like a crazed person as it sat there it in its wrongness, available for the eyes of so many people. The comment that can tear a writer’s sanity apart:
“You should write a book! It’s so easy!”
“write a book! It’s so easy!”
“It’s so easy!”
“so easy!”
“EASY!”
If you hear a high-pitched kind of whistle sound, just ignore it. It’s only my broken and agonized screams in the distance.
Let’s get something straight – in no way, shape, or form is writing a book easy. There is a lot more involved than just typing words out on a page. Plots. Characters. Worlds. EVERYTHING. You have to be an expert on all sorts of things in order to be a writer. Does that sound easy? If the answer that comes to mindis anything but “no” then we need to talk.
Writing is not for everyone. It is not the easy path or the get rich quick path. In fact, you could say that this is a path that just plain sucks sometimes. Non-novel writers just don’t get it. This post is for ther novelist, the writer of stories and creator of worlds. If you, the human being that is reading this right now – if you have decided that you want to be a writer, that you want to spend hours behind a computer screen, days spent researching, and rewriting, and editing – if that is the future you aspire to have, then you need to realize one very important thing: You are amazing.
There is no sarcastic undertone attached to those two words. I really believe that you are in fact the coolest person. Writing is an incredible thing. It is a complex and intricate thing. Fiction creates worlds and characters and lives and passion. It is behind heartbreak and inspiration. And that is what you’re doing every time you sit down at your computer or pick up your pen and paper. You are writing. You are giving words a deeper meaning. How cool is that?
Now, before you look at your screen and sigh, because you have not been writing, please don’t. And please know that being a writer does not mean you are required to write every day for X amount of hours. It doesn’t mean you have to reach a certain word count. Despite what people can say, writing is really hard to do sometimes. You may have nights where all you do is watch the cursor blink and blink and blink and blink against an empty background. You may have nights when you become inspired and write 10,000 words.
I have spent my fair share of nights doing both. It is awesome to do well, and that is okay to draw blanks. It is okay to question, to feel your heart wilt in your chest when you can’t manage even a few decent sentences. The fact that you’re trying is huge! It says to me that you are invested in your chosen craft, your chosen path. Whether you stare for hours or write 10,000 words, you’re driven to write. You want to write. Or maybe you don’t, but your body and heart and soul and whathaveyou compels you to create and write and dream up new worlds and lives.
So, be a writer. Be amazing. Be you. And if you ever have the misfortune to come across someone who thinks writing is easy, try really hard not to hit them. Instead, channel that rage into a great plotline.
#DoItForThePlotLine
Caity H is a twenty-something writer, living on a steady diet of homework and good tunes. In her spare time, she likes to procrastinate and binge watch TV shows. Writing is also high on her list of “favorite things to do.” If you want to follow this rad chick, her social media links are listed below. She posts funny things sometimes. Promise.
Mariella Hunt 