Engaging the Writing Muscle
Several years ago, I began writing morning pages. It quickly became a habit and a way to clear my head before I started my day. Often, it was also a place to work out issues, and expel things that were bothering me, or holding me back from moving forward. Often, it was a place to begin healing from a trauma or loss.
11 years ago, I began my first blog. It was where I fully embraced a healing process long overdue; where, in time, I shared deeply personal issues and finally allowed myself to show a face I’d hidden from the world most of my life. I learned to connect with other people, and in so doing, finally wrote for public consumption after scribbling for my eyes only most of my life.
It took me a few years to become consistent, and to set up a regular posting schedule. It was a few more before I consistently wrote my posts a week or more in advance instead of rushing to get something published on the day I’d designated for sharing new material. In short, writing regularly has been a process complete with fits and starts, advances and retreats. Eventually, I even learned it’s OK to fall behind now and then, as long as I eventually find my focus and get back on track.
One Thing Leads to Another
Writing my first blog started as an extension of my memoir about losing my parents to suicide, 
and how those losses led me on a journey of healing I would likely never have taken were it not for the trauma and resulting withdrawal which, in truth was simply an extension of the way I’d lived my life for the first 50 years or so. Creating and maintaining my blogs let me ease into releasing the person I’d believed I was supposed to be, and to finally become the one I was meant to be.
More than that, it forced me to write on a somewhat regular basis, whether I was participating in a blog challenge or blog hop, or setting and meeting my own expectations. At first, I wrote when I felt like it. I’d write a lot, then it would peter out for awhile.
I learned to set expectations for myself to publish at least once a week, and followed that through 3 NaNoWriMo’s, a venture into a writing critique group, and a brief stint as the writer for a food photographer. Ultimately, I had to decide who I wanted to be when I grew up, and what I needed to do to get there.
Making New Daily Habits
In looking back over the last 11 years, I can see how my writing has evolved. I realize consistency, and specific goals and expectations have been the key. They forced me to exercise my writing muscle even when I wasn’t necessarily in the mood. Even so, I had yet to create daily expectations and habits.
More and more these days, I realize writing is a muscle that needs regular, consistent exercise. Meeting and exceeding my expectations for pre-scheduling blog posts is only the beginning, though it’s a valuable tool with which to take things to the next level.
There are times I only need to write and schedule 3 posts a week in order to stay on track, which leaves a few days when I wouldn’t write at all. Lately, I’ve had to play catch-up due to personal challenges that took me away from writing for a couple of weeks. I lost another week being slow to restart. It made me more conscious of my failure to act like a real writer and attend to my craft daily.
Learning Not to Wait for the Muse to Engage
In my defense, I’ve learned when I allow my goals to slip, I ultimately get more diligent about 
getting back on track as soon as possible. The time was finally right to look at the habit I’d formed and maintained for the last 2 or 3 years to write and publish 3 posts a week, and to see how I could use that habit to exercise my writing muscle more regularly and consistently.
My blogs are useful tools in many ways, but they were never meant to be a stopping point. Instead, they were meant to build my confidence, and my ability to get words on the page quickly and easily, even if the muse didn’t jump on board with ease every time.
I’ve learned I can create even during those times I feel least creative by putting my butt in the chair, and fingers on the keys. It might mean babbling aimlessly for a paragraph or two before my creativity and imagination kick in, but it’s become more and more rare for them to fail to kick in after a few lines. There’s no reason I can’t write every day. I’ve proven to myself it’s not only possible, but doable. Since setting the intention, I haven’t missed a day.
Consistency Over Quantity
Granted, some days, I’ll write 2 posts, or approximately 3000 words, while others I only manage 1. On a good day, I can knock out at least 2 posts, or edit the 2 I wrote on the previous day. The muscle grows stronger more quickly now, and it’s time to up the game again.
Whether it’s writing for some of the other sites I’ve been neglecting, adding a few more clients, or creating space to work on my memoir or novels, I no longer feel the need or desire to limit my writing time out of boredom, lack of inspiration, or anything else that’s no more than an excuse anyway.
The blogs, and my first NaNo were the starting point. But if I’m going to join the ranks of the authors I follow and admire, I’ll need to learn a few things from their examples. First and foremost is to use the muscles I’ve built from writing blog posts for myself and others, and the consistency I’ve created in the process to build an unbreakable habit for writing, editing, researching, or learning every day without fail.
On the Job Training
The experience I’ve gained by managing blogs and writing for others is invaluable. I can 
honestly say I would have had a much harder time learning to take the process seriously, and giving it priority over most other aspects of my life had it not been for starting, managing, and creating my own blogs.
My reward for success is getting to expand my writing and publishing to new platforms and media. Above all, I get to finish the manuscripts I started, and continue to create new works of opinion, fiction, and non-fiction as long as I’m able to keep putting fingers to keys and form coherent sentences.
I owe so much to the people who encouraged me to start, and have continued to encourage my efforts for more than a decade. Without them, I’d have missed so many opportunities to engage with, and follow my passion.
About the Author
Sheri Conaway is a Holistic Ghostwriter, and an advocate for cats and mental health. Sheri 
believes in the Laws of Attraction, but only if you are a participant rather than just an observer. Her mission is to Make Vulnerable Beautiful and help entrepreneurs touch the souls of their readers and clients so they can increase their impact and their income.
If you’d like to have her write for you, please visit her Hire Me page for more information. You can also find her on Facebook Sheri Levenstein-Conaway Author.
Be sure to watch this space for news of the upcoming releases of ” Rebuilding After Suicide” and “Sasha’s Journey”.
