Write Like You're Ten

Remember when you were a kid? How books were enchanting treasures to be savored page by page. The library was your safe haven and empty notebooks were to be revered. That's the way it was for me. I didn't think anything of enjoying reading and spending my Saturday searching for new treasures on the library shelves. An empty page or a blinking cursor (on my dad's word processor that I called the computer) was the start of a new adventure. I didn't think about who would read the stories. Or even what anyone thought of them. Editors were non-existent in my world (unless you count my teacher, who was also my mom!). I wrote for the sheer joy of it. Granted, I wasn't prolific. I wrote when the muse struck, and if she didn't I found something else to do.

But what I'd like to encourage you to do is remember that childhood joy you once had. Even if you've forgotten some of that now as an adult, it's not too late to go back. Writing can be a joy again. Here are a few tips on how you can do this:

1. DO NOT EDIT ... until you're done. Give yourself the freedom to just explore.

2. Write whatever YOU would want to read. Not what you think the market needs, an editor wants, or what your friends expect of you.

3. Take time to enjoy life too. Your hobbies and other interests will provide the best inspiration.

4. Thank the Lord for what you do have, not what you don't.