"The Right Way To Write"

I spend a lot of time on social media, mainly Twitter, and there's a trend that worries me. There's always some comment about how you should write. As someone who's written two novels, and has a third one in the works, I begin to think about my writing system. Honestly, the things I do would scare so many people. However, the thing I've learned over the years that there's no magical system when it comes to writing.

I've always compared writing to underwear. It's something we generally keep hidden until we're ready to share and show what's been hiding on our hard drives all this time. Also, you got to find what's comfortable to you. Do you prefer safe and reliable tighty whities, or does the leopard print thong excite you more? That's what writing is like. Some days, you take it the safe approach like briefs, and other days, the words flow out of you, and you want to show that daring side. Again, comfort is the key here in the long run.

Far as time, there's no such thing as the perfect time to write. I've always felt if you try to schedule in writing like a work schedule never works. I honestly try to write every day, but life happens. It's even harder to find that magical time due to job, kids, etc. I honestly do my best writing early Sunday mornings. Other times, I can be doing whatever, and the muse decides to hit me upside the head with a bat. I wish I could find that golden time to write, but since I started my first novel back in 2006, I never found that magical time. So, I don't stress that I can't write for days, then in one night, I hash out 5,000 words.

The other thing I don't worry about is word counts. I've written a little as a paragraph one day, and other days, I lose count as my fingers ache from pounding the keyboard all day.  My thought is if writing is not your main source of income, don't stress. If you worry that you didn't hit that word count every day, you'll actually give up on writing. This is why I don't bother with any kind of goals. I got enough pressure facing real life that adding writing deadlines while make me give up quicker than being happy I do write something here and there. The more pressure you add to the craft, the quicker you'll burn out and give up.

The other line of nonsense that I can disapprove is what system and what software you "need" to be a writer. There's no perfect PC and / or software that is going to make anyone a great writer. I've done writing on every word processor and type of PC out there. The limiting factor on what I did that day was me. These days, I do most of my roughs in Notepad. Yes, I can write entire chapters in the most basic program inside Windows that hasn't changed since it was introduced in Windows 95. This summer, I will end up ditching Windows, and running UNIX. The only writing program I really worry about having is Word, and that's for the edits and finalization of each work. After that, technology will never make anyone a great writer since the limiting factor is our imaginations.

The overall point I'm trying to make is this: find what works best for you. You have to figure out what makes you comfortable as you type out the story burning inside your head. There's no exact plan or formula that will work for every person out there. The only two things I truly need when I write is music and writer's fuel aka some kind of caffeine (I prefer Diet Pepsi for the record). Once you find that comfort zone write until you can't write anymore. The more you enjoy hashing out a brand new world within your pages, the more the readers will feed this. One last thing, no matter what, think as writing as a fart. If you try to force it out, the end result is the same. Until then, happy writing.