Doing it daily....

Writing is like one of those muscles that need to be exercised daily, whether you want to or not. If you don't, your writing talent will wither and retreat to some corner of your mind, where only doubt and fear exists and it will crush your confidence and will and make returning to the page harder and harder. I try to write everyday, and usually do. It is not always brilliant, sometimes it is just my blog, or a revision of some pages that I am working on, but each day I come to this keyboard and I sit and I write.

I was thinking about this today as I was talking to my husband about working that artist muscle, whether you are a dancer, or an actor, or a painter, you have to DO your craft in order to keep it alive. And I was realizing that unlike acting or any of those other things, a writer is always writing. It's not jut 4 hours at my desk, it is in my sleep at night, in my dreams, sitting in the backyard and wondering what my characters do, and yet it is so important to also stay present to hear and see and process all those moments in our real life that become part of us, and that we will be able to tap into later.

As funny as this sounds, it was during this conversation today about all the things that we should do to keep staying vital and engaged as artists; taking classes, seeing shows, doing workshops, that I realized as a writer I have been doing it daily...almost everyday for almost 3 years now. It's a great feeling, the realization that the writer and the writing are one now, (knock on wood, don't jinx it!) and that it isn't something that I have to plan or schedule or find a way to work on. It just is.