Now or Never?

 One of my favourite things to do, especially on a long weekend or a few days off work, is to read about writing and the writing life.  I subscribe to a couple of writing journals and I read every word in each one.  Recently one magazine has been sending me renewal notices and I’m tempted to … ignore them and let my subscription expire.

Why would I do that when I enjoy them so much, when I delight in every minute spent reading and getting excited about my own writing?  I’ve just spent most of my long weekend reading three magazines (one was long-delayed by the postal strike of a couple of months ago) and I’ve learned so much about effective writing, developing enthralling plots, and giving life to real-people characters.  Surely I should continue these informative and inspiring subscriptions to nurture my developing writing abilities.

There’s only one problem.  Apart from this post, which comes at the very tail end of my extra-long weekend, I haven’t written a word the whole weekend.  Nothing of what I learned in my hours of reading has been put into practice.  And, if there’s one thing I’ve learned over these many years of longing to write, reading about writing, talking about writing, and dreaming of the writing life, it’s that I need to write every day. 

           

As the title of one recently published book about writing puts it so succinctly, it’s time I “shut up and write.”  Even if it’s only half an hour, I need to park my bottom in the desk chair of my office, fire up the computer, and write something, anything.  I work elsewhere for my daily bread (with a little butter on the side) and I plan that when I can afford to retire I’ll write several hours a day and make up for lost time.

But will I?  Will I, at age 60 or 65, develop new habits and routines?  Or will I, like so many before me, retire to a life of more of the same habits I built up in my working years?  Will I continue reading and talking about writing and dreaming of “someday when I’ll have the time to write” but never write anything?”  Maybe now really is the time to “shut up and write.”  Hmm, I think I should buy that book … or perhaps not!

In the spirit of my new resolution, I’ll shut up now and go write.  I have to, as deadlines loom and I haven’t even started either of this week’s articles; I spent too much time reading!