100

The fact that I'd written a 100th blog post escaped me. I'm into words, not numbers, but here's a stat. The 100th post means I've written and posted almost once every two days for six months.

For a lazy writer, this is pretty good. For a serious writer, it's mediocre. Good and growing writers write every day. But writers also must write. Look around your local library. The thousands of books weren't written by people who sort of liked to write. I suspect they were produced by writers who had to write.

From a little book on my shelf, Writers in the Spirit, by Carol Rottman, Ph.D., comes this:

If I were writing a novel, like a "real" writer, maybe we'd all understand. But writing short pieces such as [blog posts] just doesn't measure up somehow. Or if I had published widely or were intent on the same, these solitary writing sessions would at least have an understandable goal.

Famous writers have often warned beginners not to write unless they have to - it is all consuming. I'll try to remember William Safire's words: 'There are those who will call you a recluse - but it is better to listen to your own different drummer than to go through life with ringing in your ears.'

Yeah, that's it. I've always heard a different drummer. And I'm marching past the 100 mark on an unknown road. Whenever I stop or doubt the journey, there's a ringing in my ears.