Every day I'm stretching

Everyday I get a little bit more confident and every day I stretch a little bit further. The writer in me is growing, stretching, exploring. She's always been there, but I silence her fairly regularly because I don't think she's as good as I want her to be.

Writing is about being confident, it's about having a story and finding the best way to put those words on the page (or on the screen) and then having enough belief in your own ability to put it out there for others to read.

I was eight when I first decided I wanted to be a writer, my greatest dream at that time was to purchase a typewriter of my own - to me that was the symbol of being a writer, to have your own typewriter.

Over the years I've owned several typewriters and then computers became an everyday household appliance. The thing is I still don't truly believe in me, and I've discovered owning a typewriter or a computer does not make you a writer. No more than owning a race car makes you a racing car driver.

I went back to school to finish my education when my boys were little and then I went to university and majored in English. I was going to be a writer after all, with a degree then surely it would happen. I finished my degree 5 years ago, I'm still waiting to miraculously 'become' a writer.

The reality I'm quickly discovering, is that all the tools and education in the world won't make you a writer if you don't believe that you can be one. It's about writing, every day, over and over again. Like the athlete who trains everyday to improve their skills, so too must the writer. Write every day and challenge themselves against others to hone their skills.

I'm now reaching out, stretching myself and making myself write. I'm exploring critique groups and writers forums to help build my belief in myself and I'm writing, writing, writing.

One day real soon I will pull the 80,000 plus words from the bottom drawer of my dressing table and I will do something with it. Because I am a writer, I am worthy and I will be published.

Just for the record - the stats say "Romance fiction is estimated to generate $US1.36 billion ($A1.31 billion) in sales each year and a 2008 survey showed that 74.8 million people around the world read at least one romance novel in that year"

So see, there's plenty of opportunity for me to be spectacular, I just have to believe I can be.

What are your goals and what prevents you from achieving them?

Cheers, Fi

Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally ~David Frost