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Most of the important work in writing is showing up to write. Maybe ninety percent.

It’s the same with most things.

As long as you show up, you can fake the rest.

Life may not be a game. But if it isn’t, it’s certainly set up like one.

A common thread among those I’ve been collaborating with lately is trying to get further ahead – mostly in their creative careers, but the rest is across the board.

Some compare themselves to others who they feel are further ahead then they deserve.

“Why is this person doing this, when I’m more qualified and can’t get the gig?”

And I tell them, don’t compare. You’ll only make yourself miserable.

If this is what you want to do, and you’re working towards your goal, shouldn’t you enjoy playing the game of life just a little bit more?

Can there be magic, though?

Certainly.

An idea whose time has come, as someone famously quipped.

There is indeed magic in that.

If someone thinks differently than us, do we listen in a calm and understanding fashion?

Or do we merely shut down, and devolve into base accustations and insults?

This is something I’m considering today, more so than any other day…

The act of writing is the act of finding words to express ideas.

That’s it.

There’s very little magic in the actual act of writing.

When was the last time you did something for the first time?

For me, it’s shockingly frequent. I don’t actively look for new endeavors, but with my career being what it is, I find myself in new situations quite often.

Most recently, I was overseeing the build of a faux-ice rink. Sure, why not?

I heard somewhere that time sees to move slower when faced with new experiences. As we get older, and tend to find ourselves in an unshakable routine – well, you might be familiar with the sensation of time flying by.

Sprinkling new experiences into our lives may just be the antidote for that.

I think it every Halloween. I enjoy this season.

Many of us like to be scared. By entertainment.

We don’t do so well with fear from other sources.

That’s something to think about.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt said something to the effect of: “Do something. If it works, do more of it. If it doesn’t, so something else.”

It’s good advice. We are all pretty good about doing something.

What we could use help with is evaluating whether it works or not.

Many of us just keep doing the same thing, regardless of if works or not.

In Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style, one rule they mention is “omit needless words”.

Most writers don’t always heed that rule. Myself included.

There’s a point we try to get across, so clear in our heads, but so often fumbled on the page.

So when you sit down to write, it’s important to think of the reader, and think of the rules, and think of grammar, and spelling, and everything else.

It’s also important not to think about it, and to just sit down and write.

It’s easy to bite off more than you can chew.

The trick is to separate the important from the chaff, and to develop discernment in knowing the difference.