Writing is not difficult.

Friends rolled their eyes every time I said this.

But I persisted. I keep telling everyone that writing really is not that hard.

If you ever watched the movie Finding Forrester, the Sean Connery character gave a very profound message to his mentee Jamal:

“The key to writing is to write. Thinking comes later.”

We think too much while writing, and that’s why it’s hard. So stop thinking and start writing. Just write whatever you want. Forget grammar spelling or story order. Those will come later, during the edit (when Grammarly or Quillbot comes in). Our problem is that we wanted our first draft to become masterpiece. It’s like expecting a newborn baby to start walking upon arrival.

Just write whatever comes to mind. Nowadays, I journal almost every morning. Thanks to this freewriting, I can now write about almost anything that crosses my mind (or didn’t).

If you can complain, you can write.

But complain properly, in good sentences. Filtered anger can surprisingly become wonderful musing that is a joy to read and whose lessons can be of benefit to mankind. And it can make us look less silly. I know of wonderful souls who can turn daily annoyances into beautiful poems. And while we’re at it, have manners. It’s what differentiates us from rude people whom we try so hard to avoid during traffic jams.

Writing is easy.

Editing is fun.

Writing well is commendable.

Perfect writing doesn’t exist.

Now go write. And it doesn’t have to be a 350-word essay. This is not SPM.