Be a Beginner. Write something every day.
This is more of a meditation on writing, on what it takes to become a writer. Most people approach writing with an expert's point of view, believing that in order to write, you have to become an expert. But when do you really become an expert? When you become a beginner.
The moment you start thinking that you know where the writing is going to take you, you have failed. Experts claim to have all the answers to the universe—the journey, the destination, and beyond. Beginners, on the contrary, know they don't have the answers, but they attempt to find some answers to their nagging questions through writing or art. These questions, the “what-if” questions, may not exist in the objective world. They are questions we ask to try to define our awareness of the objective world, as the objective world happens outside of our awareness. However, claiming to know the answers beforehand is a recipe for failure. Claiming that the answers have been provided is a disaster. A writer never aims to provide the answers to their questions. They are in a constant quest to propose more and more questions, hoping to gain insight into the infinite wisdom existing in the universe.
That's where the shit detector comes in, to alarm you that you can never be an expert in what you do, because you will always be seeking something new. With every story, there will be a new question and a new quest. With every word written and every page turned, you will discover new realms you never thought existed—realms about your inner self and realms about the outer world.
Whenever I approached writing with some kind of knowledge and wisdom, the project failed. Either I couldn't finish it, or I wasn't happy with the result because I felt... well, I wasn't approaching the writing with the right mind and eye. The right mind that says:
I'm writing because I have no answers, and I don't intend to find the answers. My job is to completely dive into the writing journey and learn more about myself and everything in the universe—life, death, and emotions.
Genius is the worst lie we could ever believe. There's no such thing.
So is talent. There's no talented writer.
There's the quest for more, and that quest starts with approaching writing with a beginner's mind.
Write a word every day, maybe a few words. Write a few pages the next day. Then the next day and so on.
Write because you can never write to achieve ultimate fame. Write because you can never win all the time. Sometimes you will win, but most often you will fail.
Write because it makes you interesting and interested in things around you.
Write because it minimizes your regrets. Write because it will make you fall in love with the world. Write because you will be satisfied knowing that you can change something within yourself and inspire someone else who will stumble upon your writing.
We're living in a world that is drowning in fun and starving for wisdom.
Instant gratification. Instant email. Instant buzzing. Instant food. Instant shopping. It's all fast. Why do you want to do something else that is concluded as fast? Why don't you slow down for a second and do something different?
You're trained to be stressed, to be chased by a lion. You're trained to make decisions on behalf of everybody else. You're trained to do things because someone told you to do something. Writing will slow you down, and it will make you feel that you're living in a better world—and you are!
Don't believe everything you're told about fame and success. Writing is not about success either. Become a beginner. Do yourself a favor, write something every day.
It's hard at first, but then... you'll know that you can write. That you've written something small.