I recently spoke at a writer’s conference about blogging. After I was finished there were a lot of questions on how to get a blog started, where to look for inspiration, and how to get an audience around your idea.

The real question behind each of these questions?

How can I do that easily

Easy and now are two products of our current culture that I’ve come to realize are untrue. You can have easy mac and cheese and you can buy that car now. But that easy mac will clog your arteries and that car payment will follow you around like a bad smell for years.

The hard truth about anything worthwhile is that it takes time, sweat and blood, and patience.

Writing a novel takes years. Starting a business requires a lot of forethought, testing, and saving.

If you long for easy, maybe it is time to look for something else to do.

If you want to stick with your book, I can share this truth with you. That it can indeed get easier. But you must get out there and act now.

Don’t wait for the perfect writing space or that special writing time or that muse to wake from their drunken stupor to inspire us.

Believe it or not but blogging can be fun and not some drag on our writing time if you do it often and have a plan. It can take time to get there but just like the satisfaction that comes after purchasing a car with money saved and finishing a book after months or years, it is euphoric. The feeling also lasts.

This is why I keep coming back. If I can finish a blog in twenty minutes (like this one) I want to do it again. It is satisfying and easy now. But it required work to get here like a well thought out plan and some passion for the craft.

The next time you find yourself looking for the quick fix keep this thought with you.

Anything worthwhile is usually difficult but the tough road is worth all the effort in the end.