Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Letter to Myself

Dearest Nelly,

I'm not sure how to begin, the nicest way to tell you this. So I'll come right out...you have to write more. You have a million excuses. Frankly, non of them are that good. Life is hard. Yep. Got it. So what?

Write.

I know you have ideas swirling around in your head. I'm there at night when you lie awake thinking of them. I'm there when you write bits and pieces of posts in your mind and never manage to let them out. I see the pictures in your photo stream of posts not written.

Just write.

I know somedays you struggle finding the humor. That's okay. Remember, you write for you. Always have. You don't have to force yourself to write funny stories. Remember your post, if you have nothing nice to say, say it brilliantly? Write what you want. But don't forget your purpose, the reason you delved into the dark side, to cathartically chronicle your life with Alice. Write about Alice. The good and the bad. Maybe the battles don't seem as funny as they used to. She's getting smarter, the battles are much more than sharpie on your furniture. Try telling the story anyway.

Allow yourself to grow as a writer. Yes. You are a writer. You type letters to make words and words to make sentences and sentences to tell a story. That makes you a writer. You can't not write just because the material isn't what it used to be. Things change, people change. You have to accept it and embrace where you are now. You have to find a way to write it down. You enjoy writing. It's not work. It's a release. If you need to, use writing prompts or write fiction. Anything. Just start writing again.

Lylas,

Me

8 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks. Your daily post remind me that if you can write seven days a week, surely I can do four.

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  2. I second that. It's a lovely reminder to yourself. Your friends are waiting to read it ;)

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  3. Dear Nelly-

    Writing is hard, so it's ok to go easy on yourself from time to time. Just remember that you have a bunch of readers who eagerly await your newest post. Use us as motivation!

    As for the swirling thoughts, keep a notebook and reading light in your bedside table. That way you've got them close by to write down those thoughts in the middle of the night. I find my notebook hilarious- it looks like it was written by a drunken chipmunk riding a chicken. No idea what half of the notes say...

    Keep up the good work!
    KH,
    Cait

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    Replies
    1. Sound advice. Thank you for reading each and every post I write. It means a lot.

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  4. Love this. I changed the names to refer to me & my kids. Thanks for the motivation!

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    Replies
    1. I was trying to motivate myself, hold myself accountable. I had no idea I might motivate someone else. Neat!

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