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Maybe it’s just me who's been seeing a lot of writerly complaints lately. Mostly about how hard it is to write.

Truth be told, we're damn lucky. It's never been easier to write.

Let's wipe out one more excuse to NOT write by looking at how hard it used to be to type words onto a screen and turn them into a book.

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I am a huge advocate for short stories. I'm not sure why so many readers express a disinterest in shorter works vs. full size novels, but I do my best to be a constant voice in favor of short story collections and anthologies. It's my opinion that a well edited anthology provides a ton of value to a genre-reader such as myself. In one book, I get about a dozen stories from a curated selection of authors. Hopefully, the TOC (table of contents) boasts diversity in the form of race and gender, as well as a balance between well known voices and up-and-coming ones too.

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Author photo via Wikipedia

Imagine you’re walking down the street in a pre-pandemic city. Across the way, the people milling by are absorbed in what’s playing through their earpieces, scrolling distractedly on the screen strapped to their wrists. Their heads are down as they rush forward, so engrossed in the cacophony of their devices that they don’t even notice the people around them.

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Original images by Sara Garnica & Ivan Samkov

It might seem ironic to confess what I’m about to say in an essay I’m writing for publication, but I think some time over the past few years of writing I’ve lost the ability to write for joy. In its place I’ve discovered the much-less satisfying art of writing merely for publication or recognition.