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Craft Corner with CNF Editor Michael Gawdzik




You should not fear writing; writing should fear you.


Look at you. Reading this article. You rock. Why? Because you want to be a better writer, so you clicked on this article, and here you are: making the first step. Nice. Let me tell you this, the resolve it took you to click will always be needed in your writing journey. But now you have momentum, try not to lose it, but if you do, it's ok because setbacks happen. We all have reasons that keep us from writing. I'll skip the list. You need to get back to writing, especially if it's jotting down a kernel of a story inside a book jacket, because you already know the best readers make the best writers. Well done. There are always reasons not to do really anything. Sir Isaac Newton said something like that, but resistance grows strength. Humans are shaped through suffering. All you need to do is scribble down a few sentences, which can seem like a Herculean effort, but only because the gains are fit for no mere mortal.


All right, one more thing because you're busy and need to get back to it: defend writing. Too often, we make grand plans that fall by the wayside too quickly. When we say we will write every day for however long we say, we tend to always give up writing first the moment our plans change. Don't do it. Our world has Muses, fickle, winged (I'm guessing), and necessary, always floating above us. We must pay homage to them by sitting in our seats with both hands working, or else they won't slap us across the face with their awesome-idea-hand. A professor once told me how much more people would respect me if I told them that I first had to do my daily writing before hanging out rather than immediately tossing it aside; worst yet, I tell them I was going to write but didn't in order to hang out. Life happens, but if you want to be a writer, then writing needs to happen too. Now get to work. You got this.