I’ve been writing for about 25 years. I began writing at the age of 12, mainly because I didn’t feel that what I wanted to say was important; I didn’t figure others wanted to hear it. I wanted to express myself in certain ways, but because of shyness, I never really felt I could. I started with poetry, but have eventually moved on to books and screenwriting.
Today it is obviously much different. MANY people have read my work in one form or another. I am thankful that I’ve received many more positive replies than negative. Even having written for as long as I have, this still surprises me from time to time.
Which brings me to the title…speaking of “surprise.”
How can an aspiring professional writer be motivated at the thought of no one seeing his work?
Look at how long I’ve been a writer. If you know anything about writers or even the art of writing, I believe it’s safe to say that absolutely no one would write for that long on purpose if they did not love what they do.
And writing is something I absolutely love.
Actually, let me be a little more clear. I don’t start a writing project with the mindset of, “Boy, I hope NO ONE sees this!” That isn’t what I mean by the title. Of course, if I’m writing something, chances are, I would like for people to read. It would be nice.
I’m even writing this blog post right now at a time (currently 12:32 a.m. CST) where most of my friends here in the United States are either asleep, or doing anything other than looking for blog posts from their writer friends.
It’s not that aim to do it like this. But my mindset is simple. Writing, at least for me, is all about the love and passion I have for it. The motivation for me comes from the fact that my love and passion do not waver based on who sees it, if anyone does at all. In other words, the worst possible scenario is that no one sees my work. If that happens and I still feel the same love and passion I’ve always had for writing, then that will always be encouraging.
Besides, the money is made during the time no one is watching. This is the time I will improve and probably learn the most. It’s almost like a professional athlete wouldn’t put halfhearted effort into practice, but figure everything would just come to them on game day (most wouldn’t, anyway). It all starts with practice.
Yeah, I know…We’re talking about practice?!
When a person runs a race, how do they usually cross the finish line? Do they start slowing down short of the finish line with the intention of stopping right at the line? Or do they aim to run through it? If a runner slowed down short of the end, they also run the risk of not actually touching the finish line. Running through it leaves no doubt.
As a writer, I run through the finish line by working as hard as I can, not only when no one realizes I am doing it, but also when arriving at the thought that potentially no one would ever see it. I’m in pretty good shape if nothing changes when those thoughts come to mind. In that case, whatever my goal is, I will more than likely reach it, as my intention would be to run through it.
Besides, this is sort of how I started writing back as a pre-teen; with no one realizing that I was doing it and no one reading my work. So aside from now arriving at a point where I’m actually trying to reach people and on a professional level, essentially…nothing has changed.
Except for my love and passion for writing immensely intensifying. And that is never a bad thing.
People's Court 
This is a great motivation post about writing. 👏🏻👏🏻
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