What's Keeping You From Writing?

Dear Creators,

Ten years ago, I was a writer with a problem: I hadn’t written anything in years.

So I did what any writer would do about it — I started a podcast. Which… in retrospect, probably was not the most direct route I could have taken.

But! It got me thinking about writing again, and thinking about writing got me actually writing again. So in a weird way, it worked.

I’ve always done things in a sort of roundabout way, whether out of curiosity, whimsy, or sheer cluelessness. And my path has not been clear, linear, or logical — I’ve spent most of my time wandering, experimenting, popping down rabbit holes, and tripping along tangents. A few times, I fell face-first in the metaphorical mud.

But I’ve always come back around — intentionally or otherwise — to writing.

I was actually surprised, when I went back and re-listened to the first episode of Write Now with Sarah Werner, to hear my (younger, much less experienced, and slightly cringe-inducing) voice admit that, “it's been about two or three years since I've written anything,” because I write so much today. Because it’s easy to assume that things now are the way things have always been.

I can’t explain why we do that, outside of some general murmurings about the power of humans to adapt and/or take things for granted. But as much as I have changed, ten years later I still find myself asking the same question that first kicked off the show: What’s keeping you from writing?

I’m still wandering. I’m still experimenting and trial-and-error-ing and (sometimes) falling face-first in the metaphorical mud. I think that’s just how I need to do things. And I think that while the journey has changed, and changed me, significantly, it also hasn’t really changed at all.

I earnestly invite you to join me in re-listening (or listening for the first time) to the very first episode of Write Now with Sarah Werner, attached (hopefully?) above. Or you can check it out on YouTube.

For better or for worse, even after an entire decade, it’s still relevant.

I’d also like to thank you for your patience lately. I have not been able to create and release “Dear Creators” newsletters or Write Now Podcast episodes as regularly as I would like due to health reasons. Basically, I’ve had a steadily worsening herniated L4/L5 disc and a compressed nerve root in my spine that was misdiagnosed multiple times. I’m finally able to see a spine specialist this Friday, and my excitement for that gave me the motivation I needed to send this out to you.

I hope that you are doing well, and that 2025 has been… well, if not a great year so far, than at least good or mildly pleasant or remotely survivable. I wish you so much goodness and strength and warmth for the days ahead, and all the best in your writing.

You’ve got this.

Words & warmth,

Sarah