“I’ve always wanted to write,” said my talented friend as she analyzed her grilled cheese and tomato sandwich in our favorite cafe. “But I don’t come up with ideas like you do.” And she took a bite and nodded happily at it.

I looked at her in disbelief. She’s a natural storyteller and can make people howl with laughter. However, here she was, looking at me with an I-wish-I-could-write look over her nasty sandwich. (Grilled cheese? Yes. Homegrown tomato? Yes. Together? Hell, no!)

“Hold on a minute! Anyone can write if they are willing to learn. You can write about anything because even your sandwich has a story.”

I raised my coffee cup and said, “I challenge you to a duel! Let’s start writing down all the reasons people think they can’t write.”

I knew she wouldn’t be able to resist a weird challenge.

10 Cheesy Reasons Why You Think You Can’t Write:

1. I need a creative writing degree. (Nope. You certainly don’t.)
2. I need to be a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. (Nope. If that was the case – Amazon would collapse from lack of book sales. Only 2.7% of applicants get accepted.)
3. I don’t want to be a starving artist. (Well – first of all – who said you have to starve? And secondly, who said you were going to write full-time? How about just writing for fun?)
4. I don’t live in Paris, London, Montreal, New York or Prague. (So what? You can come from a farm in the middle of the prairies and still write. I did – so I know!)
5. I don’t want to live in isolation in the woods, or on a mountaintop or an island with only coconuts and a basketball. (You can imagine who said this one. And you don’t need to be a hermit to be a writer. But I’ve thought about it.)
6. I’m not creative enough. (Ha. You’re more creative than you think.)
7. I don’t want people to judge me. (They can’t judge you if you don’t show them your writing. Anddddd not everyone should love your writing. And who cares what people think, anyway?)
8. I can’t come up with ideas. (Listen. You don’t need to write War and Peace. Why not write about why you started one of your weird hobbies? Said the woman who is a mushroom forager in her spare time.)
9. What if I’m terrible at it? (You probably will be terrible at the beginning. We all are. And then, if you keep at it….you start getting better.)
10. I don’t have the time to write. (If you have time for television and/or social media? You have time to write 20 minutes a day. So there.)

Maybe you’re nodding. Perhaps you’re sighing. Or maybe you have a grin on your face right now as you just saw yourself.

Or maybe you’re like my friend who started writing a short essay about her lifelong obsession with grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches.

*Did you love this? Then check out Scribbly – my quirky writing program we snail-mail right to your house.