Jim Murray

5 years ago · 3 min. reading time · ~10 ·

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Why Real Writers Have To Write Every Day

Why Real Writers Have To Write Every Day

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(= TELike most things I write, this is really about me and if it has an application to your existence, well, that’s a nice side effect.

I have been a writer since a couple of weeks after I heard Bob Dylan sing Like A Rolling Stone, in about 1965. I was 18 at that point and more of a jock than anything else.

But that Dylan song, for reasons I never bothered to analyze very deeply, did something to my head. It’s clicked my brain into a gear that it had never been in before.

Maybe it showed me my destiny or some such other metaphysical jive, or maybe it would have happened anyway. Who the hell knows? But the one thing it did do in spades was it changed my life.

And that change, that spark that got lit in my brain, created a flame that’s never gone out.

I started writing and never stopped. I wrote my way into all kinds of stuff. A career, a hobby, a passion, a bit of an obsession I suppose and a mission.

Write Every Day

The mission wasn’t very specific, but then it really didn’t need to be. I very quickly boiled it down to a three word mantra…Write Every Day. In the beginning, it didn’t really matter what I wrote because everything was part of the learning experience.

But as I progressed and my writing started to show some signs of organization and skill, I had some choices to make, because my mantra, although quite helpful in terms of maintaining my discipline, was kind of an abstraction. In essence, I needed to focus my writing beyond just random thoughts, musings and reflections.

This opened yet another door, as one day, after college and after some work in the retail sector, it occurred to me that I might actually be able to make a living as a writer. You’d be amazed at the number of writers to whom that thought never occurs.

I Chose Advertising

I had always liked advertising. So much in fact that back when I was younger and working as a caddy in the summers, one of my golfers, a guy named Pete King, who owned an agency in Buffalo, noted my interest and invited me for a tour of his business.

So when I decided to go into advertising several years later, I had a pretty good idea of how agencies worked and what I needed to do to get into that business.

So that’s what I did. And boy, did I get to Write Every Day in that world.

But the strange thing that happened was that I realized that having disciplined marketing and advertising to do all day did not diminish my desire to do other kinds of writing in the evening and on the weekend. In fact, it actually strengthened it.

Nineteen years later, I had developed enough skill, advertising acumen and strategic discipline to hang out my own shingle and another 25 or so years literally flew by and I found myself now being able to pick and choose the things I wanted to both work on and write about in my spare time.

What’s The Point Of All This

The point, for me at least, has not changed since the day I started writing. Write Every day. Yeah, the stuff that I write about has changed. I am fortunate to now have the means to control how much writing I do for money and how much I do purely for love.

But all of this came about from the three simple words. Write Every Day.

And that is the best advice I can give to anyone who thinks they might be a writer (and frankly 90% of you are not), because this is how you learn. This is how you discover your real calling. This is how make your mark. This is how you influence people. This is how you gain personal satisfaction and confidence. This is how you keep yourself from going insane in a world that feels like it’s pretty much already there.

It doesn’t matter what you write as long as it makes you happy. Writing is spiritual and the true essence your writing will find you sooner or later.

And this will be your life. And as a jury of one, I can tell you that I would not trade it for anything on earth. It brought me everything I ever wanted materially, emotionally and spiritually.

Can it do the same for you? Well, there’s really only one way to find that out for sure.

Write…Every...Day.

jim out

cb890b57.pngJim Murray is an experienced advertising and marketing professional. He has run his own business (Onwords & Upwords), since 1989 after a 20 year career in Toronto as a senior creative person in major Canadian & international advertising agencies. He is a communication strategist, writer, art director, broadcast producer, mildly opinionated op/ed blogger & beBee Brand Ambassador.

Jim lives in St Catharines Ontario (AKA The Quiet Side Of The Lake) and is still working with companies in Toronto whence he came. He is also currently a partner at Bullet Proof Consulting. www.bulletproofconsulting.ca

You can follow Jim

On beBee: https://www.bebee.com/bee/jim-murray

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-murray-b8a3a4/

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jimbobmur

On Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/y97gxro4



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Comments

Jerry Fletcher

5 years ago #14

Jim, I'd never thought about the turning point of when I became a writer. I realized after reading this post that it was when a guy with a degree in chemistry told me the ads that had turned a TV antenna business around (which I'd turned in for a copy writing class assignment) were "unacceptable." I realized I knew more about writing to persuade or convince than he ever would. i never looked back. and so it goes.

Jim Murray

5 years ago #13

#12
Yes, there's always him.

Phil Friedman

5 years ago #12

#11
Except the smartass himself. :-)

Jim Murray

5 years ago #11

#10
Fuck off, Friedman. Nobody likes a smartass. :)

Phil Friedman

5 years ago #10

FWIW, Jim and Manjit, no writer’s error is as egregious as the use of a mixed metaphor. Let us not succumb to unbridled contemplation or put a dig’s breakfast before the horse. :-) Cheers!

Jim Murray

5 years ago #9

#1
Yeah thanks Pascal Derrien. As the first sentence states, this is about me, but really it's directed primarily at people who maybe want to be writers, as are a lot of my posts in the vein.

Jim Murray

5 years ago #8

#7
Writing, for writers at least , is not about ego or Building cathedrals. It is simply doing what they were meant to do and being grateful they were lucky enough to find it.

CityVP Manjit

5 years ago #7

I am not a writer and I definitely agree that writing every day does mean we have a possibility to become a writer because it is one of the perquisites and disciplines required to become a writer. I do not write every day as a mantra but as a natural disposition. I am sure I can be a writer one day but that is the same thing as me saying that I can be a marathon runner one day - it just is not going to happen, because I don't have the strength of inner will to create the cathedral called writer, instead I am OK throwing the bricks of writing every day. The delusion I may be suffering from is the magical thinking that if I throw enough bricks, they will form a monument as a side benefit. T That is why I don't have the inclination of becoming a writer, because the difference between a monument and a cathedral is that one is a dead thing and the other is very much a living thing. Some people can build a monument to their ego, while others like me simply create a monument of a pile of bricks - but a cathedral combines vision with intent and the actuality of a builder. The metaphor of building combines here with the metaphor of running - and what I write here is a sprint of thinking - it is a not the sprint that makes on a writer but the marathon - a marathon that leads to creating a cathedral.

Liesbeth Leysen, MSc.

5 years ago #6

Every day, in every way

CityVP Manjit

5 years ago #5

I am not a writer and I definitely agree that writing every day does mean we have a possibility to become a writer because it is one of the perquisites and disciplines required to become a writer. I do not write every day as a mantra but as a natural disposition. I am sure I can be a writer one day but that is the same thing as me saying that I can be a marathon runner one day - it just is not going to happen, because I don't have the strength of inner will to create the cathedral called writer, instead I am OK throwing the bricks of writing every day. The delusion I may be suffering from is the magical thinking that if I throw enough bricks, they will form a monument as a side benefit. T hat is why I don't have the inclination of becoming a writer, because the difference between a monument and a cathedral is that one is a dead thing and the other is very much a living thing. Some people can build a monument to their ego, while others like me simply create a monument of a pile of bricks - but a cathedral combines vision with intent and the actuality of a builder. The metaphor of building combines here with the metaphor of running - and what I write here is a sprint of thinking - it is a not the sprint that makes on a writer but the marathon - a marathon that leads to creating a cathedral.

Liesbeth Leysen, MSc.

5 years ago #4

I love writing, and doing what you love, makes you happier. What is more beautiful than to do more of what you love. It will radiate to your environment and when it inspires others to follow their passion too, we have done something meaningful! So yes, let us do it every day! Beautiful article, thank you Jim Murray

CityVP Manjit

5 years ago #3

I am not a writer and I definitely agree that writing every day does mean we are a writer but it is one of the perquisites and disciplines required to become a writer. I do not write every day as a mantra but as a natural disposition. I am sure I can be a writer one day but that is the same thing as me saying that I can be a marathon runner one day - it just is not going to happen, because I don't have the strength of inner will to create the cathedral called writer, instead I am OK throwing the bricks of writing every day. The delusion I may be suffering from is the magical thinking that if I throw enough bricks, they will form a monument as a side benefit. That is why I don't have the inclination of becoming a writer, because the difference between a monument and a cathedral is that one is a dead thing and the other is very much a living thing. Some people can build a monument to their ego, while others like me simply create a monument of a pile of bricks - but a cathedral combines vision with intent and the actuality of a builder. The metaphor of building combines here with the metaphor of running - and what I write here is a sprint of thinking - it is a not the sprint that makes on a writer but the marathon - a marathon that leads to creating a cathedral.

CityVP Manjit

5 years ago #2

I am not a writer and I definitely agree that writing every day does mean we are a writer but it is one of the perquisites and disciplines required to become a writer. I do not write every day as a mantra but as a natural disposition. I am sure I can be a writer one day but that is the same thing as me saying that I can be a marathon runner one day - it just is not going to happen, because I don't have the strength of inner will to create the cathedral called writer, instead I am OK throwing the bricks of writing every day. The delusion I may be suffering from is the magical thinking that if I throw enough bricks, they will form a monument as a side benefit. That is why I don't have the inclination of becoming a writer, because the difference between a monument and a cathedral is that one is a dead thing and the other is very much a living thing. Some people can build a monument to their ego, while others like me simply create a monument of a pile of bricks - but a cathedral combines vision with intent and the actuality of a builder. The metaphor of building combines here with the metaphor of running - and what I write here is a sprint of thinking - it is a not the marathon that makes one a writer.

Pascal Derrien

5 years ago #1

I am one of the 90%ers, I think it takes quite a solid track record to be able to sport the term Writer when one introduce or define self. I think about ''writing'' everyday but I don't necessarily put words together on a daily basis. I have no aspiration to be a writer or to be presented as one even though I am academically qualified in Journalism and applied coms. It reminds me of a semantic debate in running circles on runners vs marathoners in the end we may share the same passion but have different way to go about it ? :-)

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