On writing and Kate DiCamillo

I had the opportunity to get my Tale of Desperaux book signed, and to hear Kate DiCamillo talk about writing, imagination and all things silly. 

I'll admit that when it comes to writing, I've been in quite the slump. Whenever I write something, I feel like I'm only brainstorming. 

Now, I have heard a lot of authors talk about writing. I've read books on writing, I've met local authors at the bookstore and I've been lucky enough to meet one of my favorite authors. 

Kate DiCamillo talked about writing as more of a commitment. I'm glad she didn't just say, "Write." when a kid raised their hand and asked for advice on being a writer. DiCamillo said to make a contract with yourself. If writing is important to you, then you can even write on bad days or during writers' block. Writing has to be important, and in order to make it important, you have to believe in yourself and your writing. Even the most famous author will sit at their desk and ask themselves, "How am I going to write a book in this amount of time?" 

As long as you keep writing, you are proving to yourself every day that you can. This proof is important. It builds your self esteem and comforts you on days where you feel down or don't think that you can write. By writing everyday, you can tell yourself "Well, I did that yesterday." 

I think that this attitude is a successful one. So I'm going to write everyday, but I might try and apply this mindset to other areas in my life. This may be the key to facing my fears and following my dreams. 

Everyone writes differently. No one writer has the same method or muse when writing. As DiCamillo says, "That's the scary part." But once you commit to it, the work gets done little by little, and you have the opportunity to look back on it all and say "I did it!" which is a great feeling. 

Small steps, small commitments, and small changes to your mindset can work wonders and inspire you to be the best at whatever you wish to achieve. 

So I wanted to pass this message on, and hopefully if you're a writer, singer, author or any other profession, this will inspire you and maybe even ease your fears about following your dreams. Commit to small things a day, and step by step with a hopeful mindset, you will get to where you want to be. Commiting to your dream is the key.