the craft. writing is work .

Probably the first time I coveted the idea of being a writer was watching the HBO show Sex and The City. Carrie Bradshaw lived in New York, the mecca of publishing, in an amazing apartment with even better shoes and wrote about her city escapades for a column. It was a dream. The Black Carrie Bradshaw, I’ve so often heard Black writers aspire to be. Because let’s face it, we loved Khadijah James, but why was Flavor always struggling?

Then, you learn more about writing. What it takes to become a writer and most importantly that most writing salaries would not have covered those things Carrie owned at all. Even more specifically as Black women and women of color, the road looks very different. A lot more comes into focus about why Khadijah had two roommates and was always talking about bills.

Recently, I came across a video of Dr. Maya Angelou on Twitter discussing the work of writing.

“Hawthorne says ‘Easy reading is damned hard writing.’ So I go to work. I realize it is work that I’m going to; this is not I’m waiting for the lightbulb to go off over my head … I don’t do that. I go to work.” - Dr. Angelou.

First of all, Hawthorne’s sentiment stands out to me. Sometimes when I am looking at later versions of my manuscript, it feels over simplified. But it has certainly taken a lot of work to get there. In reading, it can be easy to feel like “I could have done that,” because we often have no idea of the work it takes for something to feel easy to read. I vow to put more respeck on the reading I do that feels easy.

The other part of the video that struck me is simply Dr. Angelou’s war cry of going to work. Writing is work indeed. I had a week to go over the last round of revisions for my manuscript and it was intense. Now I understand why authors disappear into oblivion sometimes. And I had the nerve to enjoy some of the “long weekend” activities which left me asking my editor if my deadline indeed meant End of the Day. Smh.

I, too, have often said that inspiration is for amateurs when it comes to wanting to write for a living. This is not to say that we don’t want to be inspired. But the important lesson I’ve learned over the years is how to be inspired by more things. When you are writing as a professional, the work has to be done whether we’re feeling particularly inspired or not. I could not imagine emailing my editor back and saying, “I simply couldn’t find my motivation.”

When we want to write, really want to write for public consumption and not simply for our personal satisfaction, we have to sit down at a desk and see what happens. We have to protect our writing time fiercely. We have to stop hoping that something drops out of the sky that pushes us to start putting words on a page.

I have been working on this book since 2017. That meant working in hopes of being paid. Because before a book deal, I was writing it for free. It has meant 12 hour days getting up early to write before work and staying at my laptop after work. It meant researching agents, being told no a million times, wanting to give up, etc. It has been a lot of work.

But the gag is, you can do it. Whatever it is you’re striving for in your career. You can do it. Whether it’s landing that print article, shout out to Permission Granted member Gabrielle Hickmon, or finishing that proposal like L’Oreal Payton or launching that craft book like LySaundra Janeé, you can do it too. No one is more special than you or particularly more well connected. They are all writers who decided they were going to do the work to get to where they want to be.

So much of the mission behind Permission to Write is allowing ourselves to get over the mental block of knowing we’re good enough. You can write, you have permission. With that out the way, what will you do with your time?

I want to remind you that every single Friday (save some special scenarios), we’re doing the work during our PTW Power Hour. If you’re not already signed up to receive the reminder email, I suggest you do that. One hour at a time, we are finishing book revisions, writing article pitches, working on poetry, blog posts, you name it. But we are holding one another accountable and showing up.

It’s time to go to work.