Celebrate Writing.

Forget all the rules. Forget about being published. Write for yourself and celebrate writing.
Melinda Haynes

Yesterday I was at a grant writing class for Pikes Peak Writers. So I missed my morning blog entry. It was a good class, full of useful information but after 8 hours of it, I couldn’t even think about getting on the computer and writing.I agree with Melinda Haynes about forgetting all the rules and writing for yourself…to a point.In the beginning, I wrote for myself. There are notebooks full of writings that no one will ever see and for good reason…it’s practice. But at some point I think publication is important. Why? I’ve spent years learning my craft, taking classes, reading books, practicing, being critiqued by fellow writers, why stop there. Well for some people they never intend for publication to be their ultimate goal. They write poetry for friends and family. They might write stories for themselves. This isn’t enough for me, I need public recognition and acknowlegement…I want people to say here’s fame and fortune you have worked hard for this. To me writing and never intending it to be published is like the cabinet makers apprentice who never goes on to build his own piece of furniture.

Today, list ten reasons why you write for publication instead of for yourself. Post it by your computer or in your notebook where you will see it every day as you write. Now get back to work!

Lovingly,

The Writing Nag