Hello, and welcome to Nadi Abdi talks Writing, Reading, and Politics. I’m Nadi Abdi, author of Power of the People: The Demon Cleaner book one.
I remember walking the halls of San Diego Comic Con, watching the artists sit around random places with their drawing pads just drawing whatever random things and people they saw, cosplayers and whatnot. I was always a little jealous of the fact that they could do that, just stop and draw, practice their craft. One of the things I noticed about my siblings and friends who took art classes was how they could take normal things like a coffee cup and turn them into extraordinary sketches just by practicing lighting and shading. What I learned from that was how much of great art was just practicing small things.
As a writer, it is my goal to write something everyday. It doesn’t matter what it is. It doesn’t matter how much time I spend writing. It’s only important that I write something. I could write about a coffee cup. (I really could. I was gifted my favorite coffee cup from a former co-worker that I didn’t even like. I use it almost everyday.) I could write 100 words. I could write 1,000 words. I could write for 15 minutes. I could write for 2 hours. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that something in my mind comes out of my mind in text form.
Everything we write is practice. We write about the shade. We write about the light. We can write a description of the plant in front of us. We can write about how slow drivers have no plans for their lives and are out here just meandering in front of those of us who have to be places. Sometimes I set a timer for 5 minutes and write about whatever comes to mind based on three random words picked by an app that picks random words. (I think it’s literally called Random Word.) I also have a book called 5 minute writing everywhere that I use for similar writing.
The point is, writing takes time, takes practice. If you wanna write, you gotta write. If you wanna write well, you gotta practice. If you miss a few days, or even a few weeks, don’t beat yourself up. Anytime is a good time to pick up a pen and paper and get those ideas out. I don’t write everyday. It’s my goal, but I’m not there yet. Even developing that habit takes practice.
I try to find ways to incorporate writing throughout my day. I want to write for a living. I want to have a large body of work to my name. I want to create written content in various forms that sticks with people. This isn’t something that springs out of the ground. This is a goal that requires intentionality and effort. Requires practice. Time management. Drive. Habit building. If you want to write as a profession, you gotta make writing a party of your day, somewhere in your day.
In my opinion, “write everyday” is not only good advice, but should be the goal of a writer. Again, it doesn’t have to be a big project or even part of any project. But any writing we do as writers helps make us better writers.
That’s it for today. Thanks for reading. Come back next week. We’ll discuss what I call “The Warren G Technique.” I’m Nadi Abdi. See you next time.
Read more by Nadi Abdi
The Demon Cleaner
Black Women in Fantasy
Nadi Abdi
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