The other day, I read a poem that landed in my inbox from The Writer’s Almanac and just had to write a poem of my own.
This made me sorry that I did not try to write a poem every day during poetry month in April.
I love the sensation of writing just for the sake of writing. I love forgetting about the rules or who, if anyone, is ever going to read it.
I always enjoy just starting with an image or a sensation and then just going for it with words.
Few things in life are as freeing and as inspiring as writing, although it has taken me years of practice to feel this way.
Feeling the freedom and the joy of writing just for the sake of writing is a practice I hope to pass on to my readers and students. One of the most effective ways I have found to do pass it on is through my daily writing and platform prompts.
As far as swapping platform prompts for writing prompts, as I do with my Platform Bingo Challenge, sure, it’s a different muscle. But so what? As I’ve said before, platform is not divorced from our creativity. And when we start treating it as though it’s disconnected from us, that’s when the performance anxiety and self-consciousness begin.
So just work steadily on your writing and your platform.
Try not to be tense about either one.
And try to keep a certain amount of detachment. Practicing and writing for publication are not the same things, but one does lead to the other and vice-versa.
So, I say, go ahead and let yourself have fun writing. Let yourself have fun platform-building.
Writers write. That’s how we get better.
And platform builder’s build. That’s how we build a business with our words.
Don’t let anyone take the inherent pleasure of writing and platform building away from you with all of their pressuring and posturing.
Just blow that off and get back to having fun writing and platform building. You will accomplish your goals more joyfully if you can always remember two rules.
Always be writing.
Always enjoy the process.
When life gets complex, writing can become your refuge.