A Writer’s Job is to Make It Look Easy
7:43 A.M.
Our job as writers is not to show how hard we have worked at our craft but to make it look easy.
Being a great writer isn’t something that one plays at; it is something that one works at. It is something one works at every day by writing. It is something that every writer lives with 24/7 because real writers will tell you they can never turn off their brains. They can’t. Their creative brain is active when awake, working, and in their dreams. That brain of theirs solves problems constantly, flipping stories, characters, and plots around so that when the writer sits down daily, what comes out is something that has been percolating all the rest of the waking and sleeping hours. For instance, I remember a time when I was struggling with a character’s development in my novel. I couldn’t sleep until I figured out the perfect arc for them. This is the kind of dedication and constant thinking that goes into writing.
A writer makes turning out pages easy because that’s what they do. For example, I knew that I wanted to write this blog today. I needed at least four hundred words. Did I think about it? Nope. I just sat down and started typing, and the words came out. Had I been thinking about it? Yep. Probably. When I sat down, though, the words popped out, and that’s what happens to writers. They sit down, and if they sit down every day and their body and mind know what is required, they immediately start typing. Quotas come. It looks easy. But it is easy because it is a habit, it is a skill, it is that understanding of a basketball player that when you’re standing in front of the goal, you shoot. By quota, I mean a daily word count goal that writers set for themselves to maintain discipline and consistency in their writing. It’s like a target that keeps them focused and productive.
A writer turning out pages makes it easy to think that they live a storied life where all they do is write. Nope. There are constant distractions that want to pull the writer away. For even the best writers. Doing the work is where discipline comes in. But professional writers don’t show the discipline. They embody it. The experienced writer realizes that writing that quota of words (2,000 a day for me) is more important than anything else they need to accomplish on the list. Yep. Sit down and flip out 2,000 words. It’s easy (with discipline). It’s about committing to write daily, regardless of the circumstances or distractions. It’s about prioritizing your writing over other tasks and sticking to your word count goals. This is what separates professional writers from amateurs.
When people look at writers or read their stories, they often perceive a mystical connection, an otherworldly talent. They don’t see the hours spent honing their craft, the countless books read, the feedback sought, the constant writing and reading. All they see are the pages, and naturally, writing seems effortless. But the writer knows the truth, don’t they? They know that every word, every sentence, every paragraph is a result of their hard work, their dedication, and their love for the craft. They know that there’s a story of struggle, perseverance, and discipline behind every seemingly effortless piece of writing.
Always thinking, writing every day, churning out a daily word count, avoiding distractions to make that happen, preparing every day of their life for what they will write in the future, none of this goes noticed. Why? Because the writer’s job is to make it look easy and effortless. But we know that’s far from the truth, don’t we?
7:48 A.M.
No thought before I sat down. Five minutes. Six-hundred-and-sixty-seven words. Only fifteen hundred words more for a daily quota, though I’ll probably hit between five thousand and ten thousand today because I’m feeling it.
Now it’s your turn. Make it look easy.
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