The second piece of advice I have for the year is to write. If you wish to be a writer, you must write, and you must write often. Don’t only write when you feel like it or when the Muse whispers sweet nothings in your ear. I want every budding writer out there to be writing everyday of the year, 365 days (and during leap years). Write until everything that you are is on the page, then go out in the world, experience it, and write about the world you’ve experienced. Repeat until your last breath is drawn out of your corporeal form and your trembling fingers can no longer reach the keyboards.

This seems like a bit of odd advice, given that I haven’t updated the blog in a while, but make no mistake – I’ve been writing everyday. I write when I’m sleeping, cooking, cleaning, watching a show, playing a board game, sipping on tea, etc. Now, I can hear you saying “that’s impossible, Rose! No one can write when their hands are busy doing other things!” Ah, ye of little faith! Writing has more to do with your mind than the writing implements you use. When you are not physically writing out a story, a poem, a play, etc, you should still be writing and planning in your mind. A true writer never stops writing or thinking of writing. It is apart of everything they do, from traveling around the world to using the restroom (some great ideas come when your own the porcelain throne).

Apart from thinking and planning on pieces to write, however, I do want each of you to be writing consistently on a daily basis. If you say you have no time to write everyday, make time. Look at every famous musician, visual artist, sports star, etc. Each of them made time for their passion. If you want to get rich quick, then look into another profession and make room for those who are dedicated to the craft. I know this sound harsh, but those are the breaks.

That being said, you should figure out what you need to write. For me, I have to have a café or some sort of arrangement where I am far away from distractions; or simply disconnected from distractions as is the current case. As I am typing these words, I am in Antioch, with a group of friends, getting ready for an anime marathon. This particular anime is a nostalgia trip for most present, including yours truly, so it doesn’t matter if my attention is strained between typing and reading the subtitles. Likewise, before posting this article, I am disconnected from the internet. The only thing left for me to do is write up these words for you to read in a future I can not see.

So, as far as place, I can write anywhere so long as the distractions can be managed. I also have one secret weapon when it comes to writing everyday: my notebook. I never leave home without my notebook. It is a rare day indeed when I am without a pen and paper. Nothing fancy, just one moleskin notebook I have changed to reflect the freedom I grant myself when I write everyday and a ball point pen.

I recommend that you get yourself some sort of notebook, sketchbook, or a computer handy for whenever you feel the urge to write or to just get your writing done for the day. I also give every writer (amateur or not) permission to write the following:

I can’t write today. I can’t write today. I can’t write today. I can’t write today. I can’t write today. I can’t write today. I can’t write today. I can’t write today. I can’t write today. I can’t write today. I can’t write today. I can’t write today. I can’t write today. I can’t write today. I can’t write today. I can’t write today. I can’t write today. I can’t write today. I can’t write today. I can’t write today.

If you write this over and over again, eventually something else will come up. You’ll write about your feelings, what’s keeping you from writing, what you are worried about, and everything that is in your head will begin to flow out. This is fodder for future pieces of work because you’ll understand yourself better and thereby will understand others and be able to write from a place of truth. Each writer has their own truth; you just have to write enough until you find it. In writing you live and in living you write. The sooner you learn this, the better.