The Third Thing You Wish Your Non-writer (and loving) Friends & Family Understood About Writing

That writing isn't just typing.

You're sitting deep in thought, staring at your laptop screen when your roommate walks in. "Come on, let's go to the mall!"
"Can't. I'm writing," you mumble without looking up.
"Writing? You're just staring at a blank page. Maybe a break will be good for you."
What she doesn't realize is that you may be staring at the screen, but that is exactly what you need to be doing at that moment.

There's the actual writing process: brain storming, outlining, writing a synopsis, planning the chapters, writing the scenes, etc etc. This looks different to all writers. Then there's a process to the actual writing process, which usually begins with a lot of thinking. A LOT. After that comes the part when we're so ready to write but when we attempt to, not one inspired word appears. We might even wonder how we ever thought the story line was any good. Or perhaps how we dare calling ourselves a writer. But that's okay. It's part of the process. Because not until after that can what many non-writers refer to as writing, begin: the typing.

If we gave up on writing for the day just because we hadn't seen any words come out in half an hour, we'd never see that book finished. I would like to meet the person who wrote a book without ever just staring at the screen. If it was that easy, we'd all have hundreds of books finished by now, right?