We did it! We made it to the end of this year’s October writing challenge, 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes.
It’s no easy feat to write and post for 31 days in a row . . . well done to those of you who have taken up the challenge! I hope you’ve enjoyed the process.
This year I’ve been writing a series called 31 Days of Writing Tips. I hope it’s been helpful!
Get caught up on posts you’ve missed HERE.
Today’s writing prompt is: ENJOY
Well, here we are. The last post in a series of 31 writing tips in 31 days.
For this final writing tip, I want to remind you to enjoy the writing.
It’s so easy to get caught up in all the pressures and expectations of things you should be doing or could be doing better. It’s so easy to look around at others who are further along on the writing journey, or who have already experienced the accomplishments we can only dream about. Sometimes these thoughts can lead us to discouragement—or worse, keep us from writing at all.
Earlier this month I attended a writers conference. During each time slot throughout the day, multiple breakout session options were available. I had planned in advance to attend one session on Saturday afternoon on memoir writing. But at the last minute before the session started, I flipped through my conference brochure to see which other sessions were available at that time. I saw one on how to increase your income as a writer, and I thought, “Oh shucks. I should probably go to that one instead.”
I walked to the room where the income session was taking place and took a few steps inside. I looked at the presentation screen and I looked right at the speaker in the front of the room, and then I heard a writer friend’s voice in my head—a friend who has often said, “It always comes back to the writing.”
While I’m sure I could’ve gleaned some very helpful tips during the income session, I turned around and walked out the door to the memoir session instead.
I’m sure it sounds like an insignificant decision, but this was a defining moment for me as a writer. I’m often tempted to get caught up chasing methods and techniques to make more money to support my family, but deep down that’s not why I do it. Deep down, to quote my friend: it always comes back to the writing.
If you’ve been following along for this series of writing tips, I want to leave you with this takeaway:
Don’t forget to enjoy it.
READ MORE WRITING TIPS HERE
