If you don't write, you can't be a bad writer

But then you also won't be writing.

And you can't be a writer if you don't write. 

So at some point you've just got to accept that you will be bad. 

And what do you do then?

You write anyway.

Being a good writer is not a prerequisite for loving writing, it is a by-product of loving writing.

What's so bad about being bad anyway?

Being a bad writer doesn't prevent you from writing, and frankly, doesn't even prevent you from being published and highly successful. Not that success even matters, because the greatest success you'll ever find is the success to do things even if you're afraid.

Especially if you're afraid of being bad.

I'm 90% sure that you're not actually even bad at writing, and that it's just your self doubt and inexperience that makes you feel so down on yourself. But in the end, it's really not that bad of a thing to be a bad writer, even if you are a bad writer.

It can't stop you. And it doesn't matter.

You don't write because you're a great writer and your story will be the best story ever told. 

No.

You write because you love to spend time with your characters in your world. You write to see how this story ends.

Get writing, and be proud of the fact that you are writing, no matter how bad you think you are.

You'll never get past draft one, and you'll certainly never finish anything if you can't get past being bad. You'll have so many regrets if you fail to pick up the pen, and fail to try to create some magic. That's the only way you can fail.

Being bad is not a failure. It's a step along the way. A step that we'll all take along our journey of learning. So if you start out bad, you're just a normal human being. And if you're aware of it, you're one step ahead of most, who think they're brilliant with zero experience.

Looking back on your own writing and thinking, "Oh no, that is terrible" is the best thing. It means you're learning, developing, getting better! It's not a reason to beat yourself up! It's a reason to celebrate.

You dared to do it!

Writing is one of the scariest things. But you dared!

Hooray!

If you don't write it, your story will never be written. 

Write because you're bad, or write in spite of it. But most importantly...

Write for the sake of writing.

// Em 🌞