Everyday is #WritingWednesday

Soon I will be a full-time writer which, frankly, scares the crap out of me.  As I phase out, over the next few months, my time as a professor, I will be face to face with what I always wanted to be, said I was going to be, and now must be; that is, a writer.  Not a part-time dalliance, not a self-absorbed "hobby," not anything else but one of those odd people identified as - a "writer."  No excuses.  Time to produce.  So be it.

Gordon B. Hinkley said, "All writers should be put in a box and thrown in the sea."  He might be right, but I will not be thwarted.  I will have to learn to say so long to procrastination, excuse-making, and most of my time on Facebook.  I will have to produce.  I will have to be a bit selfish with my time.  I will have to be disciplined!  A novel, then another.  Maybe a short story.  A new novel.

I have no expectations of best-sellers, movie contracts, interviews on TV, ever-aware of Flannery O'Connor's quote about expecting too much which produces a softness that can lead to bitterness.  I will write, revise, edit, and send out my work.  Then I'll start something new.  How weird is that?

I will develop a thick skin.

I will be disciplined.  I will put in the research.  I will seek critique from honest people I respect.

But to be honest, I'm not sure I can avoid what the tremendous author, James Lee Burke, calls the "corrosive self-doubt" that afflicts all writers of all genres.  That the ugly thing that can intimidate.

I'll keep you posted, dear reader, as I gradually ease into my new life as a writer.  Shall I purchase a beret?