Listen to Nike and Just Do It- Just Write!

Nike got it right with their marketing slogan, Just Do It. Writer’s can learn a lot from those cushioned and sometimes air-pumped shoes. Lately I’ve felt that sometimes I spend too much time on the planning of my writing that I find it is easy to lose that overall joy of the craft. The reason of why I do this often, tortuous job that I do.

Let’s face it, the hours and many words that we write knowing that they will probably never be seen, isn’t really the most uplifting or healthy career choice. Nor is it is always profitable, especially in the early years. It is crucial. No, it is IMPERATIVE to not lose that reason as to why you are doing this. Why are you writing? Don’t let that spark vanish!

Mine has been fading so to stop myself from crashing, I’m falling back on my old PR crisis management days. I’m going into proactive mode. I’m focusing less on my long outlines and focusing more on the short ones. This means that I’m working only a few scenes out from where I am with my writing. This keeps me on the right path without letting my “control freakish” tendencies to take over. I’m relying more on my creative side and letting myself just enjoy the writing process.

I’m also making myself work further ahead on the business aspect of my writing, such as blogs and articles. By not allowing these things to pile up, it will allow more time for me to actually write and enjoy the creative process.

Sometimes too much planning can even be a bad thing, as my teaching assistant Erine demonstrates in the video below. Yes, at my house these days “Sesame Street” is frequently on. If we put all our energy into planning, then sometimes our actions are not showing our best efforts.

As Nike says, Just Do It. Go out there and Just Write. Write the story you want to write and write it well. Don’t get caught up in the feeling that you must do this and that to make it in the writing industry. The bottom line is that to make it we all have to write GREAT stories. Write it. Write it well. And submit it. Now I’m off to follow my own advice.

Happy writing!

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