Starting out is tough. Nerve-racking, confusing, terrifying. Getting started is difficult. Stepping out into something unknown, that is yet an unseen hope, feels almost impossible. Who am I as a writer? The truth is that writing is a journey. Writing is a process of thinking and discovery. To send out your first submissions, to create your first blog, to start your first newsletter seems insurmountable. How do you market yourself when you don't know your identity as a writer. How do you introduce yourself as a writer when you have yet to know what your writing voice is? How do you invite your readers to your newsletter when you don't yet know what readers will connect with you? I like what Mark Twain says, "The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one." Who am I as a writer? Well, I'm figuring that out. I write poetry and children's stories. I create education content and courses. I write fiction and non-fiction. I write about my faith journey. I write about nature. I have yet to be published, aside from what I publish on my blog. I have yet to connect with readers, I do not yet know my writing voice. How to start your writing life? Well, you create a blog. Or something else, like Instagram or Twitter, as your first platform. Write about what interests you. Write about how you are starting out. Write about your questions and challenges. Write about the books you love to read. One important rule of writing is 'show not tell'. Show you are a writer. You carve out time to write every week and play with different forms of writing. It's all compost for those story seeds ready to sprout. If you have been keeping life journals and writing journals secretly, then you can explore those for writing ideas - draw out the themes, find clues to your writing voice and explore them deeper. As you slowly develop a catalogue of first drafts, second drafts, outlines and ideas, you will begin to see sprouts emerge and you will begin to know what to spend more time on. You might just find story sprouts worth cultivating into a submissible manuscript. Write with friends and learn the craft. Take inspiration from some of our modern greats - Tolkien, Lewis and the Inklings. Explore writing networks online and in-person. Connect with other writers. Listen to their struggles. Support their success. Share the journey of discovery together. Take some courses, read some books and share what you are learning. Live life. Simply living your life keeps your writing grounded and continues to add compost to your writing soil. Live it, fully and mindfully. Think about it. Write about it. Starting out is tough. It does take courage. It is possible you feel discouraged at times. But do not despise your first, possible faltering, steps or the day of small beginnings. © Amy George, May 2020
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