By starting this blog and giving my advice, I do not pretend to become a famous writer. I have always loved writing since my childhood, like reading elsewhere. 

I ‘ wrote’ a lot for my teaching profession, in a rigid framework imposed by codes for my students to pass their exams. The desire to write came to tickle my neurons. I now need, after all these decades, to fulfill myself in what I love: writing! Could you write to me?

Man has been on earth for several million years. He has only been writing for 6000 years. The process was therefore, long. Very long. For me too.

 Fear of writing

 You do not have to be an avid reader to start writing. Reading is a plus. It is obvious to everyone and aspiring writing that it is difficult and arduous to pass the course.

 But write what? How? ‘Or’ What? Why?

These are the nagging questions that can go on and on in your heads! This quote is mine!

 We are solid and talented; I might say, to find all the possible and unimaginable excuses not to write!

When you think of “writing,” irremediably, your memories of school come back and paralyze you.

And the suffering that these forced exercises had caused to arise, then comes back to think of the word “write.”

There is absolutely no question of writing in such a rigid framework, under the guidance of teachers who do their best to apply imposed programs and exercises, the logic and interest of which escape us.

• You hold literature in high esteem as a sacred, unattainable domain.
• Wrongly.
• You think of the ‘written thing’ as sacred.
• Hence your blockages.

You are also afraid of the pen and the spelling. Ah! The spelling!

Those famous imposed dictations made you tremble just hearing the word! These essays where your teachers underlined with their beautiful red ink, your dozens of errors! In the writing exercise, How to start a Wikipedia page for someone, there is no question of becoming an ace at spelling or dictating Bernard Pivot. So much the better if this is the case.

This is not the primary purpose of writing. You also tell yourself that only writers are legitimate to write. That writing is only accessible to writers. That they alone are worthy of writing and publishing.

But, before publishing and making a living from their pen, ask yourself the question: how did they start to write?

Stephen King’s book “Memoir of a trade” recounts his long journey through the desert he endured before becoming a consecrated and recognized author. This will be the subject of an article later. And in your eyes, the biggest fear is to be judged. In the beginning, who will read your texts? You are a beginner; you are entitled to imperfections. You have the right to improve, to progress, to make mistakes.

All of this is part of your educational, family, or social heritage. We are all afraid of the unknown—fear of exposing ourselves to our emotions which, inevitably, will resurface while writing. But, there is worse than fear—the renunciation.

False pretexts for not writing

I guess the first excuse that will pop up is ‘I don’t have time. I used this excuse on myself for many years. You can always find the time. You need to rearrange your schedule, watch less TV (for what it’s interesting!) And give up your laptop a little. The other big excuse is comparing yourself to others. Worse, to compare yourself to recognized authors. You are YOU, new to writing, just like me. It takes a start.

 Do you believe that champions, all categories combined, have become champions overnight? Writing is training. Miracle recipes do not exist.

 Do you really believe that writers have learned to write?

We know, moreover, that many writers have never learned to write other than by reading a lot and blackening paper. Another excuse is not being able to write when you want to. The solution: have practical support, like a notebook or a tablet, and you can write everywhere. To any difficulty, there is always a solution.

Another big excuse that’s holding you back: not going as fast as you’d like. As I wrote above, writing is an activity that takes training, endurance, willpower, and practice. Here is another excuse that can go round and round in your head: ‘in my head, it was good, but on the page, it is not anymore’ Is that bad?

NO!

It’s part of learning. No learning is easy. It would be clear to me, who has been learning Spanish, for example, for 3 years, and who is just starting to formulate basic sentences! Do you think running away is the best solution? Especially when you have wanted to write…. for a long time! For so long…. Writing is always associated with taking risks, which is not easy. I grant you.

Dare to write

Your desire to write must become a happy practice, a project to be completed, or a challenge that you take on yourself. There is no question of suffering in this activity. First, you need to take your time. Think about how to start and how to go about it. Perhaps, you will enroll in a writing workshop set up in your town. Good initiative.

You start with short texts or a few sentences here and there. If you want, you can write these few lines on post-it notes and stick them in various places around your house. Your family will undoubtedly enjoy reading them and will even be surprised to discover this talent in your home.

Write down what makes you happy.

Write about your children.

• On your garden.
• On a memory.
• In the coming spring.

It is not necessary to have something to say absolutely. The goal from the start is not to write a bestselling novel. By writing about what makes you happy, you will let your emotions run free without realizing it.

• Writing is learning to capture your emotions.
• Writing is a practice that will help you express yourself.
• To put the language, you speak at a distance.
• To dare to confront yourself.
• To dare to confront the judgment of others.

Your training should be regular, even daily. The best way to learn to write is indeed to practice writing every day. A little bit. Step by step. Remember the famous adage:

 By practicing your writing for a few minutes each day, you will notice progress fairly quickly. Write by hand willingly than on the computer, Wikipedia page creator as often as possible.

This will allow you to be in tune with your body and to consider this practice as rehabilitation. Or a meditation.

The benefits of writing

Practiced regularly, writing produces some prodigious effects.

• It makes reading easier.
• It softens your intellect.
• It increases your vocabulary.
• She chisels your observation.
• It strengthens your argument.
• It deploys your reasoning.
• It elucidates a complex reality.
• She develops an idea.
• It develops your imagination.
• She exposes a problem.
• It allows you to overcome this problem.
• She checks your knowledge.
• It paves the way for expanding your knowledge.
• It familiarizes you with the lexicon, the syntactic turns.
• It allows you to be more creative.
• It colors your existence with language.
• It allows you to take a healthier distance from events in your life or the world.
• It enables you to distance yourself from your disturbed or painful states.
• It allows you to get to know yourself better.
• It forces you to concentrate.
• It shows you how you are progressing, which is a great thing.
• She makes you learn about yourself.
• It teaches you to think.
• It allows you to free yourself.

By writing, you free yourself from a lot of weight. You are pouring out your overflow, which often prevents you from moving forward. It will be the miracle of your transformation through writing.

If you write in the morning, you feel free to welcome a new day. If you write in the evening, you won’t ruminate over the worries of the day all night long.

Writing requires you to:

• · organize your thinking,
• · design
• · plan
• · specify
• · refine
• · program
• · adjust your ideas
• · Choose your words, etc.

Through your writings, you will express yourself without being influenced by the media or those around you.

 Writing as an act of freedom

• Write down what makes you happy.
• It doesn’t matter that what you’re saying isn’t perfect.
• The main thing is that you take the pen.
• Let your imagination be free.
• She might surprise you.
• Exactly, let yourself be surprised.
• Writing is a work of self-transformation.
• Give yourself this opportunity.
• Forget the constraints.
• Forget about school.
• Forget the others.
• Think of you.
• Only up to you.

Writing is an adventure.

• With yourself.
• Try it.
• Do not miss this pleasure and this freedom.

There is no longer time to waste for you: set sail for the sublime ocean of words to come.