Writers Have to Write

A friend at work saw the article on Buddy and sent me an email today saying how much she liked the story. I have talked to her before about writing and she told me that she too was a writer. When I asked to read some of her work today she said that she really didn't have anything. She had some good ideas but had not committed them to paper.
At the writer's workshop a few weeks ago, I was amazed by the number of people who attended that did not write regularly. How can you do anything well if you don't practice. I guess it's the musician in me but there is no substitute for guitar time.
I told my friend today that there is genius in beginning. I'm not sure who said that but I've found that it is true. Get started, write something, let your friends read it, and get feedback. Read the work of others and consider what you like and dislike about their style and then do the things you like. I also advised her to write about things she knows.
She told me she was in a writer's group and one of the best writers in the group had very low self esteem. Additionally he was a poor speller. I asked her why he didn't use spell check but she said he only wrote on a typewriter........OK, I've read about people who choose to write only on typewriters, but as a young writer who needs every advantage, my advice to him is to "invest in a laptop with word processing software!"
It's easy to fall in love with the idea of being a writer. I know first hand because I do love the idea of being a writer, but I also know that to be a writer you have to write....a lot. Most writers worth their salt also know that some days you are going to hate what you write, some days you will love what you writer but you can never be a writer, if you don't write.
We have company coming over for dinner tonight so I'm cutting this post short.
I'll do better tomorrow.