I browsed through my files and noticed a document I don’t remember having. It says “attempt.doc” dating in April 2013. Of course, I double-clicked it only to find out a novel I started writing… I don’t even recall when.

But one thing became crystal clear, I remember I used to write on it for hours every day or two.

So exactly what happened?

Why you should stop writing is easy to answer, but why you should not stop writing is a different one. Because a real writer would go out of his way to write just about anything, as long as he does.

LOSS OF INTEREST

Some writers are able to finish a novella in a few weeks, while for others, we take time… a lot of time. In the end, you’ll end up much like me who entirely forgotten I was writing an awesomely outlined novel waiting to be sent to publishing houses… if it was actually finished. (I don’t really make in-depth outlines.. k?)

It doesn’t matter if you only write a few sentences everyday, as long as you do. It keep yourself on track on what’s happening in your story and you still have that sense of momentum daily.

Once you delay your writing once to the next day or a specific date, trust me, you’ll end up forgetting about it while it gets mixed up with other things that you care about. Though at times I do say procrastination is good, but it won’t be the case if you’re not able to get back to it while you’re in the steam.

IDEAS COME AND GO

I had a huge storage of fanta-bulous ideas for my novel then. I was already imagining who the actors would be once I get my biggest break of getting it into film. I dreamed big. (JLaw, really.) But suddenly, my motivation to get to that big dream was slowly fading behind my other interests. From my daily writing routine, it became weekly, then down to whenever-I-feel-like-it to not at all.

I wanted to continue the story last year, but I realized those ideas are nowhere to be found anymore. I had my chance. Had. And for me to be able to think of something as creative as that Nobel Prize-worthy novel plot I had in mind would take another set of effort. Don’t get me wrong, I remember some parts. But not entirely enough for me to claim that Nobel anymore. By the time I decide to finish that novel, if I even plan to, I am hoping that I’m still in the groove and is following this post’s advice as well. It’s easy to get ideas, but not as easy to keep track of them when they spring in Mach 20.

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO

W-R-I-T-E

Should I even discuss this? 

A day you practice is a day you improve. Every day you write, every day you improve. Grammar? Vocabulary? Tone? Style? It doesn’t really matter, because I’m sure, you have never heard any Football player who instantly became a star just by watching others play or reading articles made by those who are already a step closer to a goal. Writing? It eff’n goes the same way.

Needless to say… but wth.. WRITE!

Oh, and please. This does not only apply to fiction writer but to any other writer genre there is and will be.

Though actually, I don’t really think writer would somehow lose their ability to write creatively by not writing at all, but then again, writers wouldn’t improve by not writing either. Your call.