Only Writing is Writing

Only writing is writing.

There are a lot of ideas of what writing is. I can't go into them all. To me, only writing is writing.

Thinking about writing is not writing. Planning to write is not writing. Talking about your desire to write is not writing. Reading other writers' works is not writing. Complaining about not being able to write is not writing. Griping about how hard it is is not writing. Outlining your story is not writing. Revising is not writing. Throwing your work against the wall because you think they are foolish and idiotic and shallow and stupid and you are the worst writer ever to inhabit the universe is not writing.

Only writing is writing.

Putting down on the page that first word is writing. Forming that first sentence, then finishing that first paragraph or first stanza of a poem or that first scene of a play, that's writing. Extending paragraphs into a story is writing. Writing that will introduce you to new friends, take you to places you never dreamed of going before, and taking you back there time and time again. Writing that will enrich your life more than you can ever imagine. Inviting friends in for dinner. Fashioning beauty in the way you combine those 26 innocent looking letters. That's the magic.

That's writing, writing that goes on all the time. All that other stuff is important and necessary, but only writing is writing.

If you want to read other things I've written about writing or see my book, go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com.