The writing life

Here’s the thing.

I didn’t choose the writing life, it chose me. Or perhaps it was already in my genes, passed down from my mum who is also a writer. I’d be grateful, but I’m still unsure if it’s a blessing or a curse.

As any writer will tell you, writing sucks. To the untrained eye, it’s a lot of coffee-fuelled words that have landed neatly on a page in a witty article, poignant poem, or a shiny new book.

Carrie Bradshaw has done us all a massive disservice. I wish I swanned around the city, having long lunches with short stints at my laptop in between. That I had a regular column in a newspaper, and my submissions flowed out of me after lunchtime cosmos, freeing me up to focus on more important things...like choosing the right pair of shoes and still being on time for dinner. Sadly, I am yet to hear of anyone for whom this is really the case.

The reality is an ongoing battle between head and heart.

Writing is a muscle. And, like all muscles, it needs to be trained and exercised. So, you sit at the page each day, despite the fact you’re not in the mood to write. But your soul, your whole being, knows you need to write. Your head chimes in again with how today really isn’t the right time and who cares what you have to say anyway. Now you’re worrying if you actually have anything worth saying? Until finally, that push and pull tension drives you so mad you blurt something onto the page and off you go. 

Of course, not everyday is like this. Some days the words pour out of you, your hand struggling to keep up as your pen flies across the page, capturing thoughts, ideas, and insights you never knew you possessed. 

And then the next day you’re back at the battlefield. And Every. Single. Word. requires effort. Perhaps you can now see why I’m not sure that my writing genes are a gift. But, I’ll keep showing up to the page, because even if it’s frustrating, infuriating and exhausting at times, those days when it all comes together and flows, are worth it. 

Writers may be suckers for punishment. But they are also skilled athletes when it comes to words. Dedicated to showing up each day and putting in the hours to shoot those words through hoops until they fall neatly into a witty article, poignant poem, or shiny new book. Give them another cosmo!