It isn’t important why you stopped. It matters why you begin.
There are good reasons for quitting things, but sometimes the important thing is to begin…or to start again. You could lament all the reasons why you don’t write. Some of them are valid. Many are reasonable. Most are understandable.
None of them are important.
Spend some time thinking about why you write (or want to write). Doodle a web or make a list. Map your heart or pour out a poem. Spend some time thinking about why you want to write.
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Open your blog and write a post. It doesn’t have to be about writing…it just needs to be written!
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Leave a reply on this post. Jot a note and paste your URL.
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Pop around and visit some other blogs. Leave a comment about the ideas or the craft. Encourage and soak up the magic that will find you.
This isn’t a challenge or a competition. This isn’t something we track. This isn’t something to join, which means it isn’t something to fail.
This is simply an invitation.
An invitation for those who discover the magic of stories because you write.
An invitation for those who know the magic of stories because you used to write.
An invitation for those who want to know the magic of stories because you imagine being a story collector and sometimes you imagine being a writer.
An invitation for those who wish they could know the magic of stories, but feel like there’s never a story to tell. This is especially an invitation for you.
we write on blogs.
If you don’t have one, start one. If you don’t know how, Google: “How to start a blog.” You will figure it out.
If you have one, but you don’t remember how to find it, start a new one. You did it once, you can do it again.
If you have one, but people have used it as a way to hurt you, I am sorry about that. It stinks. You can open it again, but you don’t have to. Start a new one…and use a pen name or a nom de plume, as they say in France. (That’s what writers call a fake name, but pen name or nom de plume sound so much more whimsical. If you’ve had people hurt you through your blog, you deserve some whimsy in your life.)
You have one, but you think that part of your life is over. Stop being silly and go open a post box. You will be surprised how much comes back to you and soon you will be wondering why you ever stopped.
You have one, and you use it to join all kinds of writing communities. That’s awesome! You can share it here, too.
Just accept the invitation…and open a new post box.
Did you know that the letters in SOS do not stand for anything? It’s not an abbreviation, it is just three capital letters that stand together as an international code for “extreme distress.”
Perhaps making an SOS blog is a bit dramatic? It’s not meant to be dramatic.
For a long time I thought the magic of story came from stacking words. Recently, I realized the magic of story happens when a story is released into the world and it wraps around someone’s heart. The magic pulses when that someone lets the writer know the story mattered.
It used to only happen to writers with books, or to people who gathered together in a private writing group. Then blogging opened the floodgates for the magic of story to reach across space and time. Ordinary people could write about ordinary stuff and it touched others. Comments were surges of magic as we found connections from one life to another.
As time marched on, online lives changed and blogs became part of a sales funnel or a conduit to propel people into understanding or action. Story collections became snippets on Instagram or SnapChat. The magic waned, at least for some.
Which is why an SOS is being released into the world. It’s time to reconnect by Sharing Our Stories and letting a little magic to surge in the world.
