Non-Action & Action — Tips for the Writer

Unleash Your Words

Photo by Bernard Hermant on Unsplash

“Great works are done when one is not calculating and thinking.”

• D.T. Suzuki

Planning, thinking, reflecting, considering.

All are necessary states but will only take us so far in our writing journey.

At a certain point they need to be followed with action.

For the writer, that action means writing. Filling the white of the page.

All the wishing in the world will not make our writing dreams so. The words will not magically appear by themselves.

Reflections will only serve us if we learn from what we find in them.

We must also do. We must pull the trigger. We must put one word in front of the other.

We must experience what it is to try and come up short, then try again.

We should taste the bitter taste of defeat to fully embrace our writing victories.

To call ourselves writers, we must experience what writing actively looks like.

“We must put one word in front of the other.”

Non-action and action are part of the same continuum. Yin and yang nature. Both necessary for a life well lived. Both necessary parts of our journey.

Just remember, writers write!

**Note: My book for writers, about the writing process, is out now. The book, and these articles, are part of my mission to help free you up to create your best work.

Carl writes short books full of big ideas, including Write: Simple Ways to Uncover Your Best Work, *Simplify: From Inside Out and Akira: A Warrior’s Way. He is also the proud owner of Frictionless Living which is about the pursuit of simplicity to help us focus on what matters most, finding clarity in distracted times.*