My teenager has a love/hate relationship with music right now.
I can understand where he’s coming from. He really enjoys music and loves making it. He’s not so wild about the hours of practice.
He plays the baritone for school and recently told me that he was interested in starting guitar lessons.
My husband pointed out that he would probably enjoy guitar more and practice more if he enjoyed the lessons and if the teacher made it fun. I asked around and finally settled on a teacher that several of my son’s friends were using.
Last week was the first lesson. I knew the teacher was going to work out when the first thing he asked my son was, “What type of music do you like to listen to?”
Sometimes I can feel the same way about writing that my son feels about music. There’s a lot of work involved in practicing the writing craft. I love writing. But sometimes when the editing or promo is dragging me down, I have to remind myself that I do.
There are definitely some easy ways to make writing more fun. I think the most important one is to write what you enjoy reading.
Also: Write what you’re good at (dialogue, action, humor). Nothing beats feeling successful about what you’re writing and know that you’re doing a good job. Write in different places—outside, inside, coffee shops, etc. . The nice thing about writing is its portability. Read for inspiration and as a reminder of why we choose to write. For some reason, office supply stores (which are dangerous places for me!) are always fun. I love coming back with sticky notes, pencils, pens, and new notebooks of different sizes.
Hang out with other writers—online and in person. It’s inspirational.
How do you keep writing fun?
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