The Discipline of Writing

Q: What do you call a writer who doesn't write?
A: ...

... anything, but not a writer.

There are few vocations that are so obsessed with right now than writing. If you're an electrician and you retire, you become a retired electrician. No one thinks twice--once an electrician, always an electrician. You're still a parent even after the kids move out. People will call you a doctor long after your license to practice expires.

I don't know why writing is different, but I hear a judgemental subtext when my published friends greet me, "Are you writing anything new?" There's always a good reason why not, but my excuses fall on deaf ears. For them, you're no longer a writer unless you're actively working on something; otherwise you're a dilettante. Writers must write or face silent condemnation and censure from their peers.

The problem is never a lack of inspiration -- ideas are pounding at the door -- but instead the most underestimated skill in writing: discipline. In the words of Norman Mailer, "Being a real writer means being able to do the work on a bad day." Regardless of how many compelling ideas I have, or how crazy work may be, or whether or not I think I have the energy, I'm not a writer unless I practice the discipline of writing, without which even my best ideas are stillborn.

I recognize that the next evolution of this food blog is to practice the discipline of writing, even when I'm busy or tired. I must be disciplined to draw out the ideas even when it's hard or I'm beat. And then like a muscle, the activity of writing becomes easier the more I do it.