I Write, Therefore I Am
I have been participating in NaNoWriMo, which, for the uninitiated, is National Novel Writing Month. Except I’m not writing a novel, I am blogging as part of NaBloPoMo, or National Blog Post Month, an offshoot of NaNoWriMo. Apparently, I am what is known as a NaNoRebel – typical! ( I had never heard of NaNo Rebel or NaNoBloPoMo until a couple of Twitter friends [whom I also know in real life] explained the concept to me, so hat tip to @ShaiCoggins and @KamTiger. These ladies have also been my blogging cheer squad, along with @danaesinclair – thank you!). A NaNoRebel prefers to concentrate on writing projects other than novels, for example, screenplays, or non-fiction or blogging*.
The point is that I have been writing again. Constantly. Every day. And then some.
And I have loved every word of it.
And then I wonder why I stopped.
Because it’s something that I have always been good at. I have never had to work at, never had to struggle to voice my thoughts, whether it’s for a personal or professional purpose. I have always found it easy. Photography, on the other hand, and which I have just started, is hard. Running, which I have been doing for a year, is also hard. I am constantly working to improve myself in both these areas because I just don’t have a natural talent.
And maybe that’s the problem. Because writing is easy for me, I take it for granted. I know that I can pick it up anytime and write something decent in more or less one go, without having written anything for months. It’s a gift, true, but it’s one I don’t think I appreciate or honour enough.
So when NaNoWriMo is over, I intend to keep writing. I won’t wait for the motivation to strike; I will write everyday. I will write because I am a writer, and it’s who I am. I am a writer. I write. And will continue to write. There. I’ve said it.
And maybe, just maybe, I will finish the myriad of writing projects that are piling up in my DropBox.
*I decided to resurrect this blog, given it has been starved of TLC for some time. And what a marvelous decision it was. I would never have thought about pointing my domain name here otherwise.
Yay for waking up that writer, Di! Funny how we do take some of the things that are dearest to us for granted. Hope we all keep on writing indeed!
Thanks for helping me with the wake-up call, Shai 😀