A Journey

Hello my lovely writers! I hope you all are well.

If you've read my blog posts before, you've probably heard me use the phrase, "writing journey." This is a commonly used phrase by a lot of writers.

Today, I wanted to talk to you about your writing journey and give you a few things to remember.

It's a journey.

The definition of the word journey, according to dictionary.com, is this: passage or progress from one stage to another.

Progress is an interesting word. It means gradual improvement or advancement towards a certain goal or objective. The key word here is gradual.

Progress is gradual.

A journey is gradual.

Journeys doesn't happen with a snap of your fingers. They take time. It takes time to embark on them and time to complete them.

This is something you have to remember while writing.

It's a journey.

You're not going to start it and instantly become a good writer. This takes time.

One of the greatest ways to learn things about writing is through experience. Having experience and learning from it takes time. Becoming a good writer is not an overnight thing.

I've been writing for years, and I still don't have it perfected.

That's one of the fun things about writing.

It's never perfect.

It's such a fluid thing, unique to anyone who does it, that there is no "perfect" writing. Everyone has different opinions of what makes writing good and what makes it bad.

That's why experience helps so much.

When you write a lot, you start to learn what you think makes a book good to read. It also helps if you read a lot. That way, you start to learn what sucks you into a book and what spits you out of one. I wrote a post all about the benefits of reading that you can find here if you want to learn more about this.

The point I'm trying to make here is this:

Your writing journey takes time.

That's why it's called a journey.

This is a never-ending journey.

If you decide writing is something you want to do for the rest of your life, your journey never really ends.

You can always learn new things. You can always improve.

There is always something someone else knows that you don't.

All of us, every single writer, published or not, is still learning.

None of us have it perfect.

That's the lovely thing about writing.

This journey, if you've chosen to take it, is something you'll be embarking on for the rest of your life.

There's no pressure for you to immediately become great at writing, because no one has. This journey takes time, and it's something you have time to take. There's no rush, no time limit to success as a writer.

How do you start your writing journey?

Pick up a pencil and start writing.

That's it.

Or if you like writing on a computer, sit down and start typing.

This is all you need to do to begin.

The more you write, the more you'll learn. The more experience you gain, the more you'll start to pick up. The more you read, the more you'll learn what you like. The more you hear feedback from others, the more you'll start to learn what other people like.

It just takes time.

Pitstops.

Sometimes, for me to be at my best, I have to take a step back from writing for a while. Writing consistently will often do this to you: drain you of all your creative energy and inspiration.

I hear the advice "write every day" thrown around quite frequently. I can't speak for everyone, but for me, this would never work. In my journey, there are lots of pitstops.

I have to take breaks because of school, because of life, and sometimes just because I've written my motivation and inspiration away.

And let me say from experience that breaks can be helpful.

Feel free to take breaks during your journey. You set your pace—whatever works best for you.

It's your journey.

Your writing journey is unique to you and you alone.

No one's journey looks the same.

And you shouldn't feel pressure for yours to look the same as someone else's.

Your journey is your own.

And to leave off, I want to give you a GIF that, in my opinion, perfectly encapsulates the choice to begin the writing journey:

I hope you enjoyed this blog post! If you have any questions or comments, you can always send them to me in the message box below.

I wish you all luck on this incredible writing journey you're embarking on.

You are all doing amazing, and I'm so proud of you.

Happy writing!

- Jocelyn