Guest Blog: Anthony Garcia on Writing Through Life

Wealth of Ideas occassioanaly features guest blogs, and we are now planning to feature one every week. If you are interested in the reading and writing processes, and would like share some advice or a personal story of inspiration or success, let us know. The best email to contact us with is manu@munyori.com, or you can use the contact link of this blog.

In this post we are featuring a blog by Anthony Garcia, who writes about the importance of keeping the writing process going. Enjoy, and feel free to leave comments.

Writing through Life by Anthony Garcia

After graduating from school, it grows increasingly difficult to stay motivated to come up with new ideas for writing. However, if writing is something you love and are dedicated to, you will need to find ways to keep writing throughout your life. This might include continuing your education through an online graduate program, taking a notebook with you everywhere to write thoughts down in your spare time, or joining a local writer’s group in your area. However you decide to do it, writing every day will help you continue to utilize that creative muscle and really develop your craft.

Ways to continue your writing education:

Workshop Groups: A writer I was in contact with a while back told me that the best writers are not the ones who write when they have great ideas- they are the ones who have the discipline to sit down on a regular basis and make themselves write. I’ll admit that I don’t wake up every morning with great story ideas. Sometimes just being around other writers in a workshop community can be both inspiring and motivating, especially if you are struggling to create structure for yourself. A great way to find like-minded writers is through checking the newspaper, craigslist, and local meetup groups to see what is being offered. They not only offer deadlines and accountability, but they are also a great way to make lifelong friends and writing contacts.

Reading: It may seem pretty obvious, but many people tend to read less once they are not creating assignments for class anymore. Reading not only nurtures the language part of your brain, but also can be incredibly inspiring for writers. When writers read, they pick up on craft tips subconsciously from the writer. In my personal experience, I have found that the more writing I’m exposed to, the better my own writing becomes. Whether I say “I would have written that line differently,” or “what she did with imagery in that chapter was incredible—I have never seen anything like it,” I generally want to write something after reading. If anything, I have worked my writing muscle without even realizing it.

Continuing Education: Sometimes, the best choice for disciplining yourself and creating as many pieces as possible is choosing to continue your education through community college classes, online graduate programs, through getting an MFA, or taking classes through your city’s or a local university’s continuing education program. Getting into the routine of showing up to class, and really having to produce something can help you work on your writing, and often online classes and continuing education programs are less expensive options if you are concerned about money.

Time: A few writers I know set aside a 20 minute time period every morning before their families wake up to write. Every morning. It seems to work for them quite well, although even if you set aside your evening bus ride, or your 10-minute wait to pick your children up from school to take out the notebook and write, it will be helpful. For this purpose, I carry a notebook with me everywhere. Any time I am waiting, I can take it out and jot down a description of my surroundings, my thoughts at the time, or brainstorm story ideas. It has made me more productive, because often when I have a longer space of time to write later, I already have most of it outlined and my ideas can be more easily organized.

A lot of people say they want to be writers, but being a great writer takes daily practice and hard work. Writing well is not magic-it is a daily choice.

Writer's Bio: Anthony Garcia- Anthony is a free-lance writer who recently completed his graduate education in English Literature. A New Mexico native, he currently resides and writes in Seattle, Washington. He writes primarily about the writing process, education, travel, literature, and American culture.