There is one definite thing that I have learned in trying to become a writer: Writing has inertia. “Writing has no mass!”, the geek inside me complains, “Therefore it cannot have inertia.” Still, inertia is the most fitting description of my experience with writing so far.
Early on, I put great effort into my writing. I wrote often, and thought about it more. I finished my first story and wrote for my blog often. I frantically scribbled down notes for other stories. All this was building up the writing inertia.
Then, I let life get in the way, and I stopped pushing so hard. For a time, the writing pushed me instead. It drew me to write when I maybe wasn’t focused or in the mood, much as merry-go-round will drag or carry you once you’ve spun it up. But each day, I put less into my writing, and it slowed down until it came to rest.
Newton would tell you, if he could bothered and wasn’t dead, that any object at rest will stay at rest until acted upon by an outside force. This blog post is that outside force, my first shove to get the weight of writing going again.
Like any object, I can accelerate my writing with either a large force over a short time, or a small force over a long time. Both achieve the same momentum in the end. Last time, I chose the large force over a short time. And last time that momentum was undone by small forces over time.
This time, I will try to build my momentum with small forces. With a small but constant effort, I may be able to build my momentum without exhausting myself as I did then.
So again, it comes down to what so many others have said in blogs and books. Write every day. If you will be a writer, you must write every day. Practice writing every day. You may build the momentum of your writing how you will, through great effort quickly or through constant steady work, but once that momentum is built, you must use that constant work to maintain that energy.
Write every day. If you are not writing, you are not a writer.
