At the beginning of this year I set myself a target to write my first full length draft of a book. I didn't think it would be easy. However I also didn't expect to have to learn so much about myself either.
The theory of writing is easy, there's one main rule....
Found on Pinterest
So why in the hell do I find this so hard? I can't seem to settle into a writing routine, mainly because our lives don't seem to have a stable routine. And then when I do find a day, like today for example when I have a glorious amount of time to myself where I could write, I find I can't. Please, don't say it, I can already hear my Grandma telling me there is "no such word as can't." I know there isn't, I know this is all in my head and I just need to get over it but as Mr Gaiman nice puts it, "it's that easy and it's that hard."
Link to original and some other amazing quotes
My realisation today is that I am a very emotional writer. I don't mean in terms of my actual writing, although I do hope that is packed with emotion, I mean if my emotions are slightly off kilter then I really struggle writing. Take today a great opportunity wasted because all I wanted to do was this:
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After all it would have been better than someones face! Then I just ended up in a self-perpetuating cycle of anger, getting angry with myself for letting my emotions get the better of me. Allowing logic to take over I realised that this is me and it's going to happen over and over again, so I can stand there screaming every time or I can find a coping mechanism and fast before I run out of time!!
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Tea? Apparently not, though very tasty (Thanks Deb for the pin!).
A walk in the fresh air. Apparently tweeting birds are good for the mood, or so I've heard. Ok this one helped a little bit, and much better than the hours of procrastination on the internet!!
But do you know the one thing that helped more than anything today was my friends! You guys between you all defused the ticking bomb, making me feel more balanced and ready to face the screen.
Even though I may not have made the headway I wanted to in terms of writing today I know a little more about me and I'm a step closer to working out how to do this!! Oh to have worked all this out when I was younger.
Can you pin point what you have learnt about yourself during your writing journey? Are you still learning more every day? And is that the point, do we write to learn more about who we are?
Sitting down and writing no matter what is a skill, I think. One that I have not mastered. I'm getting better. It helps me to have people around that are excited about writing. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteAnd now I have more people around me that are excited about writing :-)
DeleteI've been thinking a lot about this same thing, lately -- the whole hard/easy thing. I used to smoke. I loved smoking so much. So, so much. But then I knew I needed to stop, and of course I could always wean myself off them slowly, but eventually there had to be a last one. A for-real last one. So I chose to go cold-turkey instead.
ReplyDeleteNOT writing is like that for me. I'm having a hard time going cold-turkey with that, though. I am weaning myself off it, but eventually there will have to be a day where that's it -- that's the last day I don't write because there are X, Y, and Z to do. There will always be excuses to not change.
Kicking a habit is always hard....how many days is it before it becomes ingrained??
DeleteI would just have to completely agree about learning from writing - but what we learn is an interesting thought. I certainly notice patterns from my writing, but perhaps slightly worrying ones! And without a doubt, a character and a piece of writing reflect yourself - in any interpretation you want to take from that. What have I learnt? Well, maybe I won't say that in as much detail, but one thing I did learn, without a doubt, is that I have the ability to give people very strong and terrible emotions. I'm a horrible person, but I quite enjoyed finding out that.
ReplyDeleteAnd for struggling to write? Well it's natural and horrible and everyone deals with it(sometimes successfully, sometimes not) differently, but I found, toward the end of The Red Prince, that setting targets helped. Depending on how well things were going I would make a limit for how much I should write by the end of the week - not just a minimum, but also a maximum. However, I can only really write when I'm feeling what I want to write. If you have a source of inspiration, try going back to that when you're struggling. Compared to The Red Prince, Seeking was much easier because it was being read constantly as it went; even if I was struggling, I felt compelled to carry on for the benefit of readers(and for the ego-boost). Or if in doubt, complain about writer's block, and go for a walk with the birds tweeting and a nice cup of tea. That works for everyone.
Sage advice for one so young, what I wouldn't give to have discovered some of this at your age!
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