Use It or Lose It


The following post I wrote for Charlotte Howard's writing blog in March. Charlotte kindly invited me to write a piece and hosted me on her blog on March 31st this year. I am posting it here in case anyone missed it and might like to read it.

USE IT OR LOSE IT 

Use it or lose it, a phrase that is often thrown around in relation to having learnt something new and retaining what has been learnt. It is also said regarding your brain, keeping it sharp by tackling cross-words and word searches and puzzles daily.
But when it comes to writing, does it apply? If you do not sit and write each day will your creativity be any less? This thought came to me at about two a.m. in the morning when most inspiration strikes for writers it seems. I had not written daily for over a week now and I was beginning to wonder if I would get back in to my routine of sitting down with my laptop and spilling my thoughts via the keyboard. So do I agree with the use it phrase or not?
It is difficult to say. I do not think that my creativity in storytelling will disappear if I do not sit and write daily. I do feel however it loses its shine. If I have not put pen to paper or tapped on my keyboard in some way each day, then, the flow of my words and thoughts are slower. They are sluggish. My thoughts and ideas are still there but they flow in a more meandering way.
Whereas if I give a dedicated time to my writing and turn up each day to face the blank page, then my words rush out, at times faster than I can write or type them. Story ideas are always in a writer’s mind, it is unending, and never a moment without some plot twist or character action taking place. But like I said earlier, these ideas do not play fair with a writer if they have not interacted with each other for a while. So yes, it is important to use your writing talent each day, no matter for fifteen minutes or a few hours. Go meet your page, face it and make those ideas and characters come out to play. Happy writing.
If you wish to visit Charlotte's blog for further reading visit at the link below.

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