The Pen Doesn't Care

Experienced or newbie, degree or home-schooled.

The pen doesn't care what or who you are.

The pen doesn't care what color your hair is or if you even have hair on your head.

Experienced and strong with prose...

or

a new-to-the-game rookie writer...

The pen doesn't care.

It doesn't judge you based on the number of words you've written. It doesn't judge you based on what your annual writing income is or isn't. It doesn't even judge you based on whether or not you've been published.

The pen doesn't care if you're a man or woman, Black or white, rich or poor.

All the pen cares about is that you're passionate about writing and are committed to using your words to make a difference in the world.

So don't worry about what others think about your writing. Just worry about getting your words down on paper and making a difference with them. The pen doesn't care about the rest.

The pen is a judgemental son-of-a-bitch

It just sits there on its side, but I swear it's mocking me.

It judges you on if you can pick it up. It judges you if you have the heart to keep writing when you get tired and worn out. It judges you when you set it down and face whatever life throws at you head-on.

And in its judgment, all it does is sit there and taunt you.

It needles you, scoffs at you, compels you, and thumbs its black or blue nose in its stillness as if to say...

Lift me daily...

Use me as you would a habit (good or bad)...

Move me up and down or side to side but dammit, just move me...

Just pick me up and hold me is almost what it seems to say under its inky breath...

Yea, I'd love to be like all those prolific ones. The ones who are killing it as writers. I'd love to get to the point where writing is effortless and natural, and whatever I ship is read by thousands.

And on some level, deep down, so would you.

But the difference between where I am today and where I want to be tomorrow requires more than hope and dreams. The ones I aspire to be like would write even if they had no accolades. They write for the beauty of the craft.

They write to be better for life, and they also write to be better at life.

It may sound funny, but it's true. Whatever your vocation is, whether it's an accountant, a nurse, or a person that punches in at the grocery store...you...we...do it because we want more from life.

We do it for ourselves and the greater good of all that matters to us. Or at least most of us do. We do it for something bigger than us.

We are consumed with getting better every day.

And it all comes back to that damn pen.

The pen does not discriminate.

It does not profile.

It doesn't care if you write like King, or Hemingway, as a 6th grader, or what is perceived as the latest and greatest in writing.

Because to the pen, you're all the same.

All that matters is:

What you plan to do when you pick up that pen.

What you plan to do when life tries to tell you to quit.

What you plan to do when the world is against you.

What you plan to do when your best isn't good enough.

The pen doesn't care who or what you are. All the pen cares about is that you're passionate about writing and are committed to using your words to make a difference in the world.

The pen cares if you're willing to give it your all for that first draft, that edit, that re-edit, and then that publish button…and then keep giving it your all until you've become who you are meant to be.

That's all we should care about as true writers.

Because, in the end, the pen doesn't care.