On Wanting and Doing

"Either you want to write or you don’t, and thinking that you want to write really doesn’t mean anything. There are lots of things I think I’d like to do, and yet if I don’t actually make the time and effort to do them, they don’t get done." ~John Scalzi

A good deal of my life has been spent listening to people ramble about the stories that they’re going to write. Are they interesting? Definitely. Could they be wonderful, engaging novels and plays? Of course. However, I often find myself getting impatient when I listen to them expound on all the cool and amazing things they’ll write. Very few of these people have ever actually written more than a few pages.

Although it’s fine to have pipe dreams, I get annoyed when people say that they want to do something, and then take not a single step toward actually doing it. In general, I’m very self-motivated and practical, but I too have slipped into the deadly trap of the word “can’t.” 

A life-changing moment occurred on my Epic Trip Out West. I was talking to my second cousin about how my mom wrote several books because she had researched the market and figured out what kind of book would sell well. As a creative, my mind doesn’t work that way. “I just can’t do that,” I said, shaking my head.

“No,” my second cousin said bluntly. “You just won’t.”

His comment hit me like a slap in the face (I believe my response was “Ouch”). If I really wanted to, I could become a successful freelance author. Nothing was holding me back. However, that was the moment I realized that, at this point in my life, being a successful freelancer is not my desire. No, I want to travel.

It was the first time that it occurred to me that I was not, in fact, career-oriented. And if I wanted to keep traveling, I would have to make my writing talent serve that greater passion, rather than the other way around. Fortunately, travel and writing coincide beautifully, so I’m able to sustain both passions, each one inspiring the other. It made me happy to realize that I’m not trying to be a full-time freelancer— I’m choosing to be a travel writer instead. By focusing on what I can do rather than what I wouldn’t, I freed myself and opened my world.

Too many people are stuck, as I was, in denial about the true nature of the “can't.” The number one excuse for not writing a novel is, “I can't do it; I just don’t have enough time.” This is a lie the person tells himself so he doesn’t have to hold himself responsible. It’s not that he doesn’t have time; he won’t make time. People often have this idea that things happen magically. They don’t. They happen when you realize that you truly want something, and actually do something about it.

Right now, I want to go to Europe. So I’m looking into travel insurance, reading about travel tips and stories, checking plane tickets online, working out timetables, brainstorming Europe-related article ideas, looking for phrasebooks, and trying to get myself as fit as possible. It’s a lot of hard work, but I’m working through the logistics of my trip in a tangible way. It’s not a sure thing, but I’m going to try as hard as I can to make it happen. If you have no concrete steps to accomplish your goal, it’s probably not a goal.

“I wish I could draw.” Pick up a pencil and draw.

“I wish I could take a trip.” Get out a book about budget travel and join an online travel community.

“I wish I had more friends.” Call up some acquaintances and invite them over to bake cookies or play a board game.

“I wish I was in better shape.” Find a buddy who thinks the same thing and commit to exercising together and eating healthier.

“I wish I could write a novel.” Then do it. It’s time-consuming, but if you enjoy it, it’s not that hard.

In anything you want to do, find the first step, and take it. Stop wishing, and start doing.

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