For All The Student Writers

Dear writer-to-be,

How are you? I am sure one answer to that question is “extremely frustrated with my writing process." Let me tell you, so am I. My frustration increases day after day, and I feel like there is not much to do about it. But by the Tweets I have read, most of us are on the same boat.

At the beginning of this quarantine —or social distancing, whatever you are able to do as long as you stay home— you probably thought you would spend most of your time writing. You believed that these days would be so good for your current project and even for all the new ones you had been planning. You probably spent the first few days writing a lot and figured that was how every day would be. Am I right?

As the days went by, you found yourself writing less and less. The thought of writing is always in your head but you cannot actually find the strength to do it. Am I right again? That is because I am going through the exact same thing; and I know a lot of my writer friends are too. We are struggling a lot to put our thoughts and ideas down in words.

There are days in which I can only write two sentences. Sometimes, I am happy if I manage to write one good Tweet. Other days, I am able to write articles like this one because I have a deadline. But that project —the one I really want to finish— is only two pages longer than at the beginning of all this chaos. I find it really hard to finish something important when there is so much uncertainty around me.

If you are struggling, I want you to know you are not alone. Sometimes being a writer can feel so lonely. We like it that way though. We like to be alone with our paper and pen —or computer— and just let the words flow. In that loneliness, we forget other writers struggle just as much. And, in situations like this one, our struggles can be very similar. So no, my dear writer, you are not alone.

However, there might be ways in which we can motivate ourselves to write more. There are magazines accepting submissions that you could work on. There are students who need a few words of advice. And there are all the projects you want to work on. If you are like me and deadlines motivate you, set your very own submission deadlines. Tell yourself you need to have a certain amount of words written by a certain date. Play a race against yourself.

If all else fails and you still find yourself unable to write, that is perfectly fine. We are living difficult and uncertain times that no one prepared us for. There are no good or bad reactions; unless you are still out partying, that is very bad. So do not be too hard on yourself if the words do not flow as fast or as easy as you wish they would. When the time is right, all the words will come back.

Writing is easy and hard at the same time. It is that kind of passion that keeps you going through the hardest times but the one that suffers the most in said times. It can be so tricky; you have the words but not the right way to put them down on paper. But once all of this chaos is gone, when things go back to “normal," the words will flow with no difficulty. All you have to do is trust the process and trust your words; the rest shall pass.

Wishing you all the writing in the world. May the words come easy to you,

Your fellow writer-to-be struggling through this quarantine.

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