I like to have a clue what I’m going to write about; it makes the process considerably easier. Usually, when I sit down to write, I have, if not some place toward which I’m headed, then at least some place to begin. Not today.

I don’t know where I’m going. I only know that driving the words across the page is important. That is to say, if there’s anything I’ve learned about writing, it’s that moving the cursor is always the place to begin.

Sitting at the computer is not writing.

Thinking is not writing.

Checking Facebook is not writing.

Looking up references and copying urls is not writing.

Going to the coffee shop with a laptop is not writing.

Checking word counts is not writing.

Reading about the art of writing is not writing.

Listening to podcasts where writers talk about writing is not writing.

Outlining is not writing.

Writer-ishness is not writing (i.e., the act of visualizing yourself as a writer).

Writing is writing.

Continue reading on [D]mergent . . .