Do Other Things Besides Write

 

Whether you are writing fiction or nonfiction, it really helps to have other things going on in your life besides writing. Why? Because writers cannot live on words alone.

 

Seriously, though. If you really want to write realistic characters, it helps to know how real world people communicate, interact with each other and the many different kind of lifestyles that they live. What kind of jobs are they working? How do they manage the work-life balance? Where are people going for vacations? What’s everybody talking about? How are they talking? These are all important things to know.

 

And if you write nonfiction, then communicating with other people, socializing, attending events, volunteering, participating in activities and getting out there to DO things can all add material to your work. It can also help you get more information, as well as ideas.

 

Years ago, I was the kind of writer with no social life. I spent hours at the desk every day, blissfully writing. I am not sure if my work suffered for it, but my health sure did. I gained a lot of weight (it didn’t help that at the time, I was an alcoholic), and I developed other health problems because of my very sedentary lifestyle.

 

Fast forward to the present day. I am alcohol free and while I still write a lot, I am also doing other things with my life. I’m going exploring, attending events and getting out there to talk to people. I truly feel that my writing is better for it.

 

Another benefit of living life while being a writer is that you get more ideas for things to write. You will get inspired to write something just from an experience you wouldn’t have had if you were at the desk writing all the time. Plus, listening to conversations other people have while out in public can give you ideas for things to write as well as clue you in to certain snippets of creative forms of dialogue people use (such as interesting sayings).

 

It may be tempting to write all day every single day, but you would be doing yourself a huge favor doing other things with your life besides writing. Take on other hobbies so that you have another skill besides writing (such as painting) or go to school to train for a career. Volunteer in your community or pitch in to help a friend. Whatever else you choose to do with your life besides write, it will enrich your life and make you a better person for it. It will also help you to be a better writer.

Some Things Are Out of Your Control

 

You could apply for a writing gig and have the best credentials all around and someone else will still get the job.

 

You could submit a short story which you think is the most amazing story ever written and a perfect match for a magazine, and still get rejected.

 

You could submit a time-sensitive pitch to a client but not only will they get to your pitch several days later but they also reject it.

 

When you are a writer, the task of getting published is a gamble. Something which you may feel would be “right” for one market may not be a good fit after all. A book proposal you submit to a literary agent may not be right for them after all.

 

These kinds of things happen all the time. And no matter what we, as writers, do to make certain that all of our ducks are in a row, there’s a chance it won’t be enough.

 

Additionally, we may cling to certain habits as writers, but then something happens that will bring that habit to an end. For me, that habit was meeting my deadlines. As a freelance writer, this is important to me. But as a content writer, I have learned that sometimes, a deadline is not exactly set in stone. I do try hard to get my work to a client on time, but even if I meet a deadline, the client may not actually have the chance to get to it just yet. It’s a hard lesson I had to learn, but then I realized that some things are just out of my control.

 

Just as they are out of my control with the rest of the writing that I do. I can try my best to meet a deadline, turn in my best work, include all of the requested materials for a submission and research the heck out of a magazine before writing and submitting my work, and all of that can still fall short in the end. All of that could not stand up to what goes on with the person on the receiving end.

 

As a writer, you should put in your best effort, but understand that sometimes, that won’t get you the desired result. It won’t get you the acceptance. It won’t get you the gig. It won’t get you the assignment or the coveted contract. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try or what effort you put in, the answer will end up being “no.” Or you just may not meet that deadline.

 

That’s just the way it is in the writing life. It’s something we writers have to accept. We try our best, but sometimes, things just won’t work out for us the way we want them to. Some things are just out of our control. Instead of allowing this to hold everything up or throw us out of whack, we have to accept this and move on.

Passion is What Drives the Writer

 

What is it that keeps the writer writing even after they keep getting rejections?

 

Passion.

 

What is it that will help the writer to get through the hard times when they are stuck on their work?

 

Passion.

 

What is it that will keep the love of writing strong no matter what?

 

Passion.

 

Writers are people who write no matter what. It is not so much a feeling of superiority or a sense of needing to have a say about things that drives the writer to put words onto a page. It’s their passion for writing that gets them to write.

 

That passion for writing will also help the struggling writer to never give up in trying to get published, trying to find that literary agent or trying to find a writing gig.

 

It is a passion for writing that kept me writing for all those years I got rejections and my books didn’t sell.

 

It is my passion for writing that drives me to write even still – even now, when I get acceptances and my books are selling.

 

It is my passion for writing that drives me to do all kinds of things with my writing even if nobody cares or notices or even if I don’t succeed. Even if what I write has no impact and doesn’t mean anything to anyone.

 

I don’t need anyone’s permission to write. I don’t need validation to write. I have my passion to write, and that is enough to get me writing.

 

I’ll write through the good and the bad. I’ll write when things are going well for me and even when things are not going so well.

 

It is my passion for writing that keeps me writing.

 

That is the kind of passion you, the writer, need to tap into as well. Once you have locked onto your passion for writing, nothing can stop you from writing. Nothing will keep you from writing.

 

Your passion for writing will keep you writing even if you are not getting acceptances or getting published or getting accolades for your work. Passion doesn’t need any of those things in order to burn within you as a desire to keep writing.

 

Your passion is where all of your desire and your need to write comes from.

 

Take a minute to think about your own passion for writing. Think about it, embrace it and nurture it. This is your power as a writer. This is the one thing that will keep you going and keep you writing even when things are not going so great.

 

If you are passionate about writing, then nothing can get in your way to write. You won’t ever stop writing no matter what happens. Nothing will be able to stop you from putting words onto the page. No one can take your passion for writing away from you. And nothing will ever interfere with your love to write, your desire to write, and your NEED to write if you have a strong passion for writing.

 

A passion for writing makes you unstoppable.

 

There may be times your passion for writing may take a few blows. And some major life event may knock it off course. (I went through a very long dry period after recovering from a near-fatal illness.) But in the end, your passion for writing will never be destroyed. Your passion for writing can never die. It’s the one thing that will keep you writing.

 

Sure, you may feel that you keep writing because it’s what you enjoy doing. It’s what you love to do. It’s what puts food on the table.

 

But ultimately, it is your passion that drives you to write. Your passion for writing is what keeps you writing day in and day out.

 

So enjoy your passion for writing. Nurture it and take solace in it. Allow your passion to write drive you as a writer and you’ll keep writing no matter what life throws at you.