Writing Advice: How to Commit Yourself to the Craft

I find the topic at hand ironic, since I'm posting this after not updating in awhile. However, I put pressure on myself to publish a post (whether it's a review or writing/literary advice) then I push myself away from it. I become less creative and struggle with writer's block. When it comes to the reviews, I sometimes don't have time to finish a book right away (although I do have at least four books lined up to be reviewed, and I will probably have one or two in a few weeks depending on my schedule).

My lack of updating brings up my first piece of advice: it's okay that you don't write all the time. I've heard people say that writing a hundred words a day can help you improve, or even twenty minutes a day. While those ideas are sound advice, in reality, they are hard to complete when you have a busy schedule or life gets in the way. I also believe that forcing yourself to write something everyday doesn't help improve your writing because you can just rush through the exercise to get it over with. I'm not saying that you shouldn't do daily exercises to help you improve, but I don't want you to beat yourself up about it if you end up missing a day due to the crazy roller coaster we call life.

However, while I haven't posted on this site in a time, I have been working on other creative passages. I've been working on my novel, "The Greenwood Chronicles". Most of the writing for that has been the outline, but I'm more of a stickler for outlining everything in a notebook/word document in case I need a reference. I am currently outlining chapter 12, and I've written the prologue along with a few pages of the first chapter.

The reason I am telling you all of this is for my second piece of advice: write about something that inspires you. My creativity keeps on flowing for my novel, as well as some other writing projects on the side. However, my current novel is not the only one I have. Before "The Greenwood Chronicles", I was working on another novel called "A War of Roses". While I still have creative ideas for the series, I have more ideas for "The Greenwood Chronicles" and have more fleshed out.

"A War of Roses" is my difficult project due to my ever changing stances on whether or not I wish to go with a certain point of view, or the entire plot of the first book (I seriously have the entire rest of the series semi-fleshed out but have changed what I want my premise to be of "A War of Roses"). I revised the first two chapters several times, however I constantly felt as if there was something off about the story.

My writing woes bring me to my third piece of advice: take a break when you need to. Writing in-and-of-itself is difficult, but if you feel as if you find it harder and harder to write about something (a story, a poem, a fanfiction, etc) then take a break from it. Read a book, take a walk, play video games, or do something that helps you relax. You can always return to writing, and it's better to do so when you aren't frustrated with it.

I leave you with these three pieces of advice to consider as you continue down your writing path. And with the reminder that you are always a writer, no matter what anyone else says.