The Path to Becoming

The first entry, beyond a playlist, I wrote for Dark Etiquette was about writing a list of your non-negotiables. One of mine is “I am a writer”. When I first wrote that it was just an aspiration. It is closer to reality every day.

I have my two blogs. What is prompting this post, however, is I just received galleys for my second piece to be published in a local paper. 979 Represent is a local arts and entertainment monthly that is an outgrowth of , a local blog of the same name. The paper came about when the local newspaper canceled its weekly arts and entertainment supplement.

Writing for the paper pays no more than either blog. In fact, it pays less because Places to Go, People to Be has made me a couple of bucks in credit at RPGNow. If I’m not really getting paid why do I believe I am a writer. Why do I consider them as fulfilling my aspiration to be a writer.

I have two primary reasons. The blogs and the writing in the paper are completing the writing loop. If one writes and keeps the manuscript in a box you can argue that you haven’t finished. Writing meant to be read by no one is a diary regardless of the format. While diaries and journals are of great value both to the person writing and to the historical record they are not what most people mean by writing. Writing is complete when someone reads it. Writing is most complete when someone in the target audience who we do not know reads it. Of my three outlets I know one, my gaming blog, is read by people I’ve never met because people have commented. I believe people I have no connection to have read this blog based on web logs. Finally, the paper has a reasonable presumption that others have read it. That said, complete reading loop is the lesser reason I believe I am moving from aspiration to being.

My attitude about all three is more important. You become something when you do it with intent and persistence You do not become something because you are paid for it. In fact, I know many people paid to do something that I wouldn’t give them title to it. I see it quite a bit in computer fields. I am serious both of these blogs. I have schedules and deadlines which, although I do slip, I’m serious about maintaining. I have invested time and effort in learning how to build a better blog in terms of writing, managing, and promoting. I do not post stream of thought consciousness writing as I do at my Live Journal. I have a list of topics and everything goes through at least one round of editing before seeing a post. The paper, as well, clearly has deadlines but ones externally imposed. I apply the other methods to it as well.

It is that internal change, that transition from doing something in a haphazard manner to doing it with seriousness and intent, that marks the beginning of becoming it. The second is repetition. You must string together consecutive instances of that seriousness and intent. When will I be a writer? When will I have enough pearls to make a necklace? That’s hard to answer. My answer will be different yours in many cases. I do have some markers. The goal is for both blogs to get new content every other day. I like a year as a span of time. Some people might think the three months it takes to create a habit are enough, but I see this as something with a larger scale. If I can look back over a year and see both blogs got at least three postings of substance a week that will constitute being a writer. The paper, with its infrequency, requires more than a year of straight monthly articles to mark the transition.

I don’t want to get caught up in metrics alone. I could post three articles every Sunday in a panic and theoretically meet those numbers. I could post every other day for a year expect one week when where I go four days between posts. That week would only have two articles. I’m sure you’ll agree the later scenario is one where I’ve met the span of time requirement while the former doesn’t.

I put this challenge to you. Find that aspiration on your list you want the most. Set up your favorite brainstorming conditions and take an hour to figure out what would mark seriousness and intent in doing it. Then you should decide on the span of time starting tomorrow that would mark the transition from doing it in spurts to doing it for real.

Tomorrow is my thirtieth day or so as a writer. Let tomorrow be your first as what you want to be.