Writing IS learning

I was a journalist for about nine years. I have been writing for non-fiction TV and digital videos for the past eight years. However, I am a novice when it comes to fiction writing.

I have written a bunch of short stories in a burst of inspiration. I have started and abandoned a couple of novels. I am currently developing what I hope will be a comic book. Oh, and I have another grand ficitonal story building up inside my head.

I guess two questions hold me back:

• First, am I capable of writing a book? 
• Second, am I really capable of writing a book?

So, I attend workshops, read articles on websites for authors, and read books on the art of writing. I learn a lot. But there is so much more left to learn! And so, feeling fairly lost, I postponed the actual act of writing.

Recently, an obvious truth smacked me right in the face. You know, the kind that makes you doubt the intelligence that supposedly distinguishes me from apes.

And the truth is this: Writing IS learning. 

Think about it. You don’t train for a marathon by reading books. Or show your kids YouTube videos and expect them to start tying shoelaces. Or cook a gourmet meal by liking a video on Instagram. Sure, reading books, watching videos, and getting inspired by chefs help – but it is only by taking action that we learn. We need to make a mess, get hurt. Pull a muscle. Fall on your face because the laces came undone. Undercook that pasta. 

Why this didn’t occur to me earlier, I will never know. But now that it has, I am going to take a different mental posture to my fiction writing. Each day, I will sit down to write with the intention of learning to write. I’m not here to create a masterpiece. I’m here simply to learn… and to create a masterpiece 😝.