Today is more about writing than ballroom. I am working on my second eBook (yay!) and a lot of the content is based on what I’ve already written. So I copied a bunch of blog posts into a Word document to use as the foundation for this new project. I proceeded to stare at my screen for 15 minutes without a clue of how to proceed. I started to feel like I should just delete everything and start from scratch! But there was good information from my original posts, why waste time rewriting it?

The blank page is often a source of dread for writers. That big empty space dares you to tarnish its clean perfection with your scribbles that might be worthy. That first word or sentence is always the hardest. The longer you stare at the blank screen or paper, the slower your creative mind moves until it stops altogether and you get up with a sigh of frustration to do something else.

So why isn’t reworking what’s already written easier?

I think part of the problem is my writing process is very spontaneous and unstructured. I write when I’m inspired and it all flows out of me, and when it’s done, it’s done. The Write 31 Days challenge tested my skills because I had to plan ahead more and write whether inspiration was flowing or not.

My demons start getting chatty when I think about my longer term goal of writing full-length books based on my blog and ballroom experiences. Seeing how easily I stall with an eBook that will likely be less than 100 pages makes me doubt I could ever produce something several hundred pages long and worth reading.

I know I’m not alone. Writing a book is a daunting task for most writers. I foolishly thought blogging would make the jump into books easier. But it’s like I’ve been running sprints and now I’m trying to do a marathon.

I just need to train my writing muscles in a new way. Whether dancing or writing, there is always more learning, more training and more practicing to do!

But that’s a good thing because that means I never stop growing!