Write out of Your Malaise

Write out of Your Malaise · 23 May 2020

I am sure that all writers feel some sort of malaise every now and then. That thought that whatever they are writing is not good enough. Or that it is subpar. Or that it is even less than mediocre. Some writers give up when they feel that. Others just keep on keeping on.

I suppose that I am a glutton for punishment. I like to hear people tell me that I ought to keep on working to get to mediocre. Even if it is a high bar to reach. But when I hear comments like that, I know one thing for sure. I know that somebody is reading my words. Oh sure, it may just be Marc, one of my friends and faithful readers, but at least somebody is reading.

Well, that is about it today. I suppose that it is the malaise. I know it is never writer’s block. After all, I said many years ago, in no uncertain terms that there is no such thing as writer’s block. And I will stick to that claim. After all, if you are really a writer, you will really write. Period. Writers write. Talkers just talk.

We have all met those talkers.

“I could do that. If I wanted to.”
“How hard could it be to write a book?”
“Anybody can throw stuff out there on the internet.”

But when push comes to shove, those talkers are just that. Talkers. Full of hot air. They just do not have what it takes. Or they think that if something takes hard work and dedication, it is too difficult or not worth it.

I think the other way. If something does not take any work. If it does not take discipline and dedication, it is not worth it. Anybody can do something that does not take discipline and dedication. And if anybody can do it, then whatever it is must not be worth much.

Which brings me back to writing. I know that I will be able to write myself out of whatever malaise I am having. I know the words will come. They always do. After all, that is what discipline and dedication are all about. I may never get out of the ranks of mediocrity, but that is okay with me. At least I am in the running. At least I am putting in the miles that are necessary to get where I want to go. It might take me forever. I might not ever get there. But at least I am working toward my goal. At least I am working on being a writer. At least I am writing out of my malaise. And that is something.

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