The other day I read where a prominent writer had a pet peeve about new, or young, writers referring to themselves as "aspiring". This author explained that one was either a writer, or not. I tend to agree.
It reminded me of an athlete with the "potential" label tagged on him or her. It's nice to be considered capable of doing great feats, but until they're done, nothing has been accomplished. An All-Pro for the Atlanta Falcons once referred to high draft picks with potential for greatness in the NFL as worthless, because they hadn't done a (blank) thing yet.
I wouldn't go that far, but I see the point. Do something, don't just aspire to do it. As Sam Elliott's character says in the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie November Christmas, "If you want to be a writer, I say write." Practice, practice, practice. I'm doing that right now. Most successful writers say pen something every day. Of course, pen today can mean actually writing on a legal pad or sitting in front of a screen. Or scribbling down a thought on a napkin, or a Post-It note or whatever. Like reps in sports, our practice time is writing something. There will be mistakes, but we have our coaches to help us. Writing is not a solitary career. Yesterday, while putting an editing question puzzle together, I was on the phone with another writer, a park ranger and a librarian within the span of a few minutes. An online search wasn't enough. We practice before publishing.
Everyone has the potential to be great. Aspire to inspire, enlighten and entertain. Then go work at it.
It reminded me of an athlete with the "potential" label tagged on him or her. It's nice to be considered capable of doing great feats, but until they're done, nothing has been accomplished. An All-Pro for the Atlanta Falcons once referred to high draft picks with potential for greatness in the NFL as worthless, because they hadn't done a (blank) thing yet.
I wouldn't go that far, but I see the point. Do something, don't just aspire to do it. As Sam Elliott's character says in the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie November Christmas, "If you want to be a writer, I say write." Practice, practice, practice. I'm doing that right now. Most successful writers say pen something every day. Of course, pen today can mean actually writing on a legal pad or sitting in front of a screen. Or scribbling down a thought on a napkin, or a Post-It note or whatever. Like reps in sports, our practice time is writing something. There will be mistakes, but we have our coaches to help us. Writing is not a solitary career. Yesterday, while putting an editing question puzzle together, I was on the phone with another writer, a park ranger and a librarian within the span of a few minutes. An online search wasn't enough. We practice before publishing.
Everyone has the potential to be great. Aspire to inspire, enlighten and entertain. Then go work at it.
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