I’m going to borrow a concept from the work of Brené Brown here, although she’s not talking about writing. It comes from a quotation from Theodore Roosevelt’s ‘arena speech’. Here’s part of the Roosevelt quotation that so profoundly changed Brené Brown’s life:
“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again.”
When it comes to your writing, are you in the arena or are you sitting on the sidelines? Are you doing your thing, expanding your comfort zone, practising your art, or are you talking about it, thinking about it (sometimes), and watching others doing it?
Turning up regularly and writing is by far the most important thing you can do to
It may sound obvious, but talking about writing won’t help you nearly as much as actually doing it. So grab your planner and make a plan to turn up, even if it’s only for 10 minutes.
If you you’re interested in the context in which Brené Brown uses Theodore Roosevelt’s ‘arena speech’, then you’ll find it at the start of her book Daring Greatly. Also, she talks about it in some of her TED talks. In this one, it comes in at about 12 mins 20 secs. Check it out. It’s wonderful.
More soon. Until then, happy writing,
Louise xx
P.S. You can still get your hands on these two free writing courses – Writing for Beginners and How to Make Money From Your Writing – check them out here.