“”I am a writer!” When I dirst started writing, I read somewhere that one should say it to yourself every morning, as a way of validating yourself. As you come to believe it, you will have more motivation and success.

You don’t need to say it to anyone but yourself, if it feels like bragging, although lots of people say things like “I am a lawyer” or “I am a computer programmer” and no-one thinks it’s boastful. But “I am a writer” evokes a response in people that’s often hard to answer. “What have you written?” is the automatic response, and the truthful answer might be: “Not much!”

When I first began, I’d been writing ever since I was a child, but very little had been published. I had a desk drawer crammed with essays, half-developed short stories, some novel outlines and opening chapters I hoped to develop. All that had been published were some poems, some Letters to the Editor, and some fillers that I’d actually been paid for – not big sums, but useful to pay for postage and stationery. But I kept going because I’d read that success is where preparation and opportunity meet, so I took advantage of whatever opportunities came my way, hoping they’d lead to bigger things.

To be a writer, you must be optimistic. My favorite Chinese proverb is: “Keep a green tree in your heart, and perhaps the singing bird will come.” When inspiration does come, you need to embrace it and take advantage of it in every way possible. In the beginning, the only poems I got paid for were verses for a Greeting Card company, and they didn’t print my name. But real poems exist by the dozen, usually written in periods I felt highly emotional … when I thought I was in love; when I felt betrayed; when Nature turned on one of its spectacular displays in Spring – walking through the garden or a park and the air is fresh with a gentle breeze , and you see rows of daffodils and tulips in colours that make you gasp; or there is a border of freesias that perfume the air and send your senses reeling.

Roger White wrote: “When life touches us

Poems appear like bruises”…

Never a truer word has been written. The words should flow spontaneously, , being in love with the moment and letting it flower in the form of a poem.

The really 9important thing is to convince yourself that you are a real writer and repeat the mantra to yourself every night before you go to sleep, and every morning when you wake up. You’ll get there some day. So, in the meantime say it again: “I am a writer!”

I’m always happy to hear your comments, or to help you free of charge with a writing problem. My latest novel “Searching for Sarah” is available direct from me at discount – contact me at dwaysman@gmail.com Happy writing!