For some reason, most of us who write will find a myriad of excuses to not write. And most of the time they are very good excuses. Our internal dialogue will tell us that the muse isn’t with us today, the dog needs a walk, the dishes must be washed, and that living room furniture absolutely has to be rearranged right now! Those of us who are students can add that we have email to catch up on, homework that is due tomorrow, social media has to be looked at, and sleep is a necessity.
Now, all of these could be true, and are certainly reasons that may have some validity. The cold hard truth however is that for so many writers, writing is the least enjoyable part of being a writer. We love a finished product, we enjoy telling people we are writing something that is really good, and we are infatuated with this new idea we have for a story, poem, or book. It is that pesky sitting down in front of the blank page and crafting, creating, and developing our tale that far too often feels like a Sisyphean labor.
That is where those excuses come in so handy. The lie we tell ourselves is that once those are done, we will have a clear slate and can then sit down and pound out our masterpiece. Then, and only then will we be ready to share our genius with the unnamed reader just waiting to read our work. Let me let you in on a little secret – I do all those things too. And I hate myself for it. Maybe you do too. Not hate me of course, but yourself. You probably don’t even know me, and if you did you would want me to be your best friend! See, writers can convince themselves of anything.
So instead of all the excuses, instead of beating yourself up because you haven’t written, sit down right now and write something. We here at the Iris Review want to see it! We love writers, and we love reading. We know you do too. Join us in celebrating each other by sending us your best work. Or your worst. We want to see it. Yes, it can be scary, although we are relatively unscary people and we know what it takes to share what you put on paper. Or, most likely, your laptop.
Annie Dillard in her wonderful book of essays, The Abundance, wrote,
“One of the few things I know about writing is this: Spend it all,
shoot it, play it, lose it all, right away, every time. Don’t hoard what
seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it,
give it all, give it now.”
Come on, you can do it. Give it your best shot and send something our way. At the very least you can stop thinking about that particular piece and move on to writing your next great idea. And who knows, in a few short weeks you could be invited to the launch party of the Spring 2024 Iris Review and be reading your work to a roomful of writers just like you.
-Scott Moss
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