There are a lot of reasons I love writing. The expression, the escapism, the feeling of improving your craft just to name a few. But sometimes I can lose sight of these things. I place a lot of pressure on myself to perform well at many tasks in my day to day life. School, work, and anything in between. As a result, sometimes I exert this pressure upon myself when it comes to writing. On my bad days, I can sometimes lose sight of why I love doing this. So I composed a little list, more for myself than anything, of reasons I love the art form of putting your thoughts in pen.

Your work will outlive you and you leave something behind.

Not to be a wet blanket or anything, but sometimes I think about how long the world has been around and how very brief my existence is in it. It just puts things in perspective. But the thought that maybe someone years after I’m gone could stumble across any of my work and feel connection, makes me feel sunny inside.

You get the joy of exploring ideas and concepts without being bound to reality.

Reality can be a bit of a downer. This probably can go into the same category of escapism. Sometimes It’s nice to “play God” a little in your world and not be bound by the laws that actually govern you in the real world. You have freedom to explore whatever you wish.

You get to explore parts of yourself that you probably didn’t know.

I figured this out the more I started writing vent poetry that will never see the light of day. But I did find it very therapeutic and it helped me work through stuff and vocalize certain parts of myself that wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. Something about putting your thoughts in rhyme makes it almost fun and digestible even if the part of me the piece represents isn’t my favorite to look at.

You have the ability to touch people through your work.

Probably one of the biggest why’s as to why I write. Writing touched me as a young person (specifically during my lonely middle school days). I hope that my work can do the same for someone else, and perhaps make someone out there feel a little less lonely.

Increasing your knowledge of language and how to communicate with people.

English as a subject wasn’t always my favorite. It wasn’t terrible, don’t get me wrong, but I found I liked it much more in practice than when its broken down into rules and definitions. But one thing I did find and the more I wrote and read, the easier this subject got. Probably because English, like most all languages, is easier to learn in practice and the more you toy around with it.

You can live hundreds of lives.

Coming back ’round to the mortality thing, there are many things I will not get to experience. But writing offers me a little window into the many lives I will never truly live and I think that’s really special.

It doesn’t really cost you anything.

As a broke college student, this is a MARVELOUS perk. A healthy hobby that doesn’t dost anything is invaluable.

You can write for a long, long time.

A wonderful thought is that I can write all through my life. It is something that, If I want it to be, can be a constant in my life. I am not bound by the physical tax that puts an expiration date on many hobbies. I can write well into my older years, and that comforts me more and more with each passing year.

One of the many writing struggles I have had to overcome as I write more and more is the issue that I tend to be an “all or nothing” person. And that transcends to nearly everything I do, including to my writing. So what does this look like exactly?

Well, for me personally, it looks like writing 4,000 words in an evening and then not touching the project for 4 months. It looks like powering through the first couple of chapters of a book and then going “alright, I’m not feeling this anymore”, and walking away.

And it sucks.

I have unfinished projects everywhere that include stories and other creative projects alike. I covered this in a similar way in my other blog post “The Struggles of a Project Bouncer”, one of the first Writing Blog posts I posted on this blog. In this post, I focused on this is a broad sense in that I have a bad habit of just jumping from one thing to another and not seeing stuff through to the end. And this seems to be particularly bad when it comes to my writing.

And the solution?

Well, it’s kind of boring, not gonna lie. It’s the answer to like 75% of must problems writer’s have and a lot of people have for that matter (myself included).

Self. Discipline.

Yuck. I don’t like that word. But it really is the answer to this “all or nothing” problem I have. But to get more specific, what does “self discipline” look like when it comes to pacing myself so I actually finish something in less than two years as oppose to typing out three chapters and walking away for 6 months?

Well, for me it looks like a writing schedule. And one that I stick to.

Everyone’s writing schedule looks different. In fact, many people measure it in different ways. Some people set the goal of writing X amount of chapters every week or month and others set their goal in amount of words. This seems to be the most common strategy.

Getting back to my particular solution, my goal tends to be around 5,000 words every week which comes to about 700 words every day which I know is manageable, at least in the summer time (my plan changes when school starts back of course). And even though I don’t stick to it perfectly, I find the pacing helps me see writing a more of a habit and something I do more consistently as oppose to a project I add to when the moon is in the sky just right and I actually feel like writing. Because If I do that, come to find out, I never get it done.

So if you’re an “All or nothing” writer like me, I definitely recommend trying this strategy. Try setting a goal and pacing yourself and resist the urge to spit up 5,000 words in one sitting and then running away.

You can do it! You can finish that story or that book! I believe in you!