There’s a difference between enjoying the process of writing and enjoying the thing you’re writing about. I’m always going to enjoy writing stories because they’re something for which I have a passion. But the risk, when I decided to try to make a living by writing, lay in whether I’d enjoy writing about other things. I couldn’t know for sure whether I’d enjoy writing for its own sake, regardless of the content.
Fortunately, it turns out that I do. Over the past week I’ve written about toothpaste, sunglasses, the Battle of Agincourt, and those special drugs for men that anonymous Canadian pharmacies keep emailing me about. I’ve applied for work writing about recipes, chiropractic technology and new developments in the world of HR. And while there have been moments that have strained my brain – 400 words about a wooden cube, for example – I’ve enjoyed it all. I’ve enjoyed the challenge of finding interesting ways to write about uninteresting things. I’ve enjoyed the learning that comes from quickly brushing up on a subject for an assignment. And I’ve really enjoyed putting one word before the next, working out the best ways to say things, going with the flow of the words.
Get out there and write. Enjoy letting the words spill out onto your screen, no matter what it’s about.
And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go research vegan cheesecakes. The words demand it!