To the aspiring writers,

A lot of people will tell you that writing is too difficult to do in the way that we do and ask you how can you stay motivated and focused on the same project for so long without getting bored or giving up. Some might even say that the dream to write a story or a novel or anything of the sort is a hopeless dream and will try to crush it before you can even begin.

Whatever you do, don't let them.

Yes, writing is difficult. Who else but a writer can say they've created worlds in their own minds and then brought them to life on paper? Who else but a writer can paint pictures on a page with nothing more than language and detail? We are artists in our own right. No, we do not paint with brushes or colors and no, we do not draw with charcoal or pastels, but we create with our words. We paint our pictures through vivid descriptions and imagery. The pen is our paintbrush, the blank page our canvas.

As someone who's been writing for nearly her whole life and as someone who has recently finished her very first novel, I will be the first to admit that staying motivated and pushing through writer's block is no easy feat. It's one of the hardest things but when the story is itching to be told, you need to find the strength to power through and tell it.

The first draft of any story is the hardest. It is simply you telling yourself the story. It doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to be. Without this first draft, there is no story. There's just your imagination and the story in your brain. If you believe in the story, you should tell it, and that is what this draft is all about. Listen to a playlist to set the tone for the scenes you're writing (that always helps me), picture what the characters would do in various situations that have nothing to do with your story but will help you get to know them. You can always go back and change things later, but you can't if there's nothing there in the first place.

Sometimes it might take you the right muse to get the first draft out of you. Don't fret if it takes a while for the story to really catch, it took me years before the right idea hit and then when it did I was writing a minimum of five thousand words a day because I was just so inspired. Look forward to that feeling of the story seeping out you and pouring out onto a page rather than staying locked in your mind. Trust me, it is so worth it in the end when you can sit back and realize you've written your very first novel. Take it from one who knows, it's a feeling like no other.

Writers are so special. We have stories in our hearts that nobody else will know unless we tell them. Unless we create those worlds in ways that others can see them. Without writers, the world would be a dreary place. We wouldn't have movies without stories, and art wouldn't be the same. The next time someone tries to tell you that your dream of being a writer is for naught, smile, nod your head, and thank them for their consideration, but know that they only say that because they don't have the mental strength to do what we do. Those people don't have the heart of a writer or a story etched in their bones, but we do.

Plus who knows? Maybe one day those will be the people in the front of the line at a book signing once you're a New York Times Bestselling Author.