Writing Every Day

 It has been a long time since I updated this little blog, but I would like to assure you (future or imaginary reader) that I have been “being good” at keeping the promises I made to myself, where writing is concerned.

No, I will change that to “doing well.”


The term “being good” implies too many characteristics which I neither possess nor want to possess.  I have been doing well at keeping the promises I made to myself.


One of the promises I had made to myself was that I would write everyday with some exceptions for travel or emergencies.  The writing could be short, it could be long, it could be in the form of a voice memo written down/recorded for later transcription, or it could be in the form of notes taken on my phone.  The writing may be done as a voice recording while I am mid the task of makeup application, or while I am out walking.  (When I do voice recordings during walks, I sometimes try to pretend to be talking on the phone, but people still look at me suspiciously.)


The writing must be creative, though it could be fiction or nonfiction.  Emails don’t count.  Stories and blog posts do.


I have adopted and held fast to the notion that writing, like any craft, is a skill and can be learned . It is not reserved for or limited to those who are born with a gift or a talent, any more than dancing is.  I agree with those who have said that anyone who truly wishes to write and to write well should be able to pursue and improve through study, drill, and practice.


Anything can be learned. If you want to be able to do something, then, quite frankly, you should be able to learn to do it.  And do it well.  Even writing.  Even writing fiction.  Even writing stories.  Maybe it does not "come naturally" to me as poetry did, from an early age.  But do I want to do it?  Yes, I do.  I want to be able to do it.  So I will.


A physical exercise routine for a person who has been sedentary for a long time may begin with the decision to at least do some exercise (even if it is 3 squats) at least once every day. This may gradually evolve into daily routines of an hour or longer, and then into training for a marathon.


I have confidence and hope that the same can occur with writing.  (Whether or not it will is something that will be tested by time.)


Days in which I write for 30 seconds or 5 minutes may gradually evolve into days in which I write for 2 hours.  But the first step, in my estimation, is getting myself writing something, anything, anywhere, in any way, at least once per day (with some exceptions for travel & emergencies). 


I have done this.  I have written, in some way, in some amount, every day since the New Year, with the exception of one day when I was traveling through Turkey, and one day when I first arrived in Cornwall from Albania.
Location: Cornwall, UK

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