Howdy,

As year 8 of my writing career comes to a close, I have been looking back on how I ended up where I am.

Today I want to share with you 3 lessons I learned that did have an impact. A BIG ONE.

Lesson #1: If you write, you're a writer.

In my high school days, I thought being a writer meant selling millions of books and having events where people came to hear you speak and get your autograph. But I've come to learn that some of the most revered authors weren't read until after they died (many by suicide).

What constitutes a writer is, well...do you actually write? Once I learned that some of my favorite authors, like John Kennedy Toole, killed themselves because they perceived themselves as failures for not getting validation from traditional publishers, I switched pursuits.

It doesn't matter if you write poetry, journal entries, or stream-of-consciousness excerpts that only you have read. If you write, you're a writer.

Lesson #2: My opinion only matters 2 months later.

Almost always, when I reach the middle or end of whatever I'm working on, I think to myself: this is garbage and no one is going to care. I've learned that it's just a part of the process to have self-doubt, in any endeavor.

Now I don't listen to that voice until I've put some time between me and the finished piece. It doesn't have to be 2 months, that's just what works for me. The point is that the farther I get from what I create, the more I can analyze it objectively.

Lesson #3: Honesty beats concept every time.

You've probably had that "A-ha!" moment where you think of a concept for a story that you just CANNOT forget. It's that weird encounter you had with a homeless person or that party you went to that was unlike any party you'd ever been to. You write it down, hoping to incorporate it into a story somehow, and two months later it's still nothing more than a concept.

I have a notepad with at least two dozen concepts like these. Instead of concepts, what I search for now is honesty. What am I not being honest with myself about that I could use a story format to overcome the fear?

Many of the short stories I write are versions of something I've experienced but never saw out to the end.

Alternatively, what have I lived through that I CAN be honest about. Write that and you'll be way ahead of the game.

That's all for this excessively long email,

Nick

500 word writing prompt (8/20): You are sitting by a loved one at their deathbed. It's the last time you will ever see them. What will you say to them that you haven't ever had the courage to say before?