Can I Not Write?
Monday, November 23. 2009
Every once in a great while, something literally takes your breath away—you "forget" to breathe for a moment while your entire brain (presumably, even the bits normally just keeping the beat for you) is occupied in assimilating, understanding, appreciating what you've just witnessed. Breathing, a necessary component of simply living, takes a back seat temporarily to something the brain sees as far more important.
I think writing's like that for me.
It's been said that a "real" writer is incapable of not writing, that she's driven to do it above all else, that it's as essential to her well-being as breathing. That's been a worrisome idea for me, because there are long stretches of time wherein, though I would like to be writing, I just don't. Apparently, I'm not sufficiently driven by the basic need to write—I'm capable of not writing, therefore I must not really be a writer.
I've come to believe that the problem in my life is far too many things that "take my writing away." Putting words to paper is an essential part of my existence; I've proven that fact to my own satisfaction. I take great joy from the formation of eloquent prose, from setting scenes that are compelling, from working events to "aha" conclusions. I love to write. But I've been allowing myself not to do so, to put writing in the back seat for just a moment while something more important is going on.
No more.
I'm using this November's press toward 50 good hours of noveling to jump-start my writing future. Here's to getting priorities right, and spending more and more time on writing going forward.
Every once in a great while, something literally takes your breath away—you "forget" to breathe for a moment while your entire brain (presumably, even the bits normally just keeping the beat for you) is occupied in assimilating, understanding, appreciating what you've just witnessed. Breathing, a necessary component of simply living, takes a back seat temporarily to something the brain sees as far more important.
I think writing's like that for me.
It's been said that a "real" writer is incapable of not writing, that she's driven to do it above all else, that it's as essential to her well-being as breathing. That's been a worrisome idea for me, because there are long stretches of time wherein, though I would like to be writing, I just don't. Apparently, I'm not sufficiently driven by the basic need to write—I'm capable of not writing, therefore I must not really be a writer.
I've come to believe that the problem in my life is far too many things that "take my writing away." Putting words to paper is an essential part of my existence; I've proven that fact to my own satisfaction. I take great joy from the formation of eloquent prose, from setting scenes that are compelling, from working events to "aha" conclusions. I love to write. But I've been allowing myself not to do so, to put writing in the back seat for just a moment while something more important is going on.
No more.
I'm using this November's press toward 50 good hours of noveling to jump-start my writing future. Here's to getting priorities right, and spending more and more time on writing going forward.
I think writing's like that for me.
It's been said that a "real" writer is incapable of not writing, that she's driven to do it above all else, that it's as essential to her well-being as breathing. That's been a worrisome idea for me, because there are long stretches of time wherein, though I would like to be writing, I just don't. Apparently, I'm not sufficiently driven by the basic need to write—I'm capable of not writing, therefore I must not really be a writer.
I've come to believe that the problem in my life is far too many things that "take my writing away." Putting words to paper is an essential part of my existence; I've proven that fact to my own satisfaction. I take great joy from the formation of eloquent prose, from setting scenes that are compelling, from working events to "aha" conclusions. I love to write. But I've been allowing myself not to do so, to put writing in the back seat for just a moment while something more important is going on.
No more.
I'm using this November's press toward 50 good hours of noveling to jump-start my writing future. Here's to getting priorities right, and spending more and more time on writing going forward.
I Tawt I Taw a Hypocrite
Thursday, November 19. 2009
Yeah, okay, so I'm "tweeting" again, even though I roundly criticized Twitter as a waste of time earlier this year. I did leave myself the possibility of changing my mind in that blog post. So I'm back, but it's different.
When the starter's pistol fires for a long road race like a half marathon, and there are all these people surrounding you just pumping their arms and legs like mad, it's easy to get caught up in the rush and the excitement, and end up running an eight-minute mile right off the bat. That can really kill you for the long haul, making you have to slow way down for a couple of miles because you've sprinted when you should have jogged. Long races are tests of stamina, not bursts of speed. I think that was my problem with Twitter.
I spent entirely too much time on the service when I first signed up for it, just over a year ago. After a few months, the expenditure of time for me became too great, and I realized the return on investment just wasn't there. So I walked a bit, took a break, reassessed my speed. Now I'm back to a jog—using Twitter (I hope) more effectively and reasonably. I do want to stay in touch with friends and make new contacts, while staying informed about topics of interest; Twitter supports those goals. I just have to keep a reasonable pace.
Yeah, okay, so I'm "tweeting" again, even though I roundly criticized Twitter as a waste of time earlier this year. I did leave myself the possibility of changing my mind in that blog post. So I'm back, but it's different.
When the starter's pistol fires for a long road race like a half marathon, and there are all these people surrounding you just pumping their arms and legs like mad, it's easy to get caught up in the rush and the excitement, and end up running an eight-minute mile right off the bat. That can really kill you for the long haul, making you have to slow way down for a couple of miles because you've sprinted when you should have jogged. Long races are tests of stamina, not bursts of speed. I think that was my problem with Twitter.
I spent entirely too much time on the service when I first signed up for it, just over a year ago. After a few months, the expenditure of time for me became too great, and I realized the return on investment just wasn't there. So I walked a bit, took a break, reassessed my speed. Now I'm back to a jog—using Twitter (I hope) more effectively and reasonably. I do want to stay in touch with friends and make new contacts, while staying informed about topics of interest; Twitter supports those goals. I just have to keep a reasonable pace.
When the starter's pistol fires for a long road race like a half marathon, and there are all these people surrounding you just pumping their arms and legs like mad, it's easy to get caught up in the rush and the excitement, and end up running an eight-minute mile right off the bat. That can really kill you for the long haul, making you have to slow way down for a couple of miles because you've sprinted when you should have jogged. Long races are tests of stamina, not bursts of speed. I think that was my problem with Twitter.
I spent entirely too much time on the service when I first signed up for it, just over a year ago. After a few months, the expenditure of time for me became too great, and I realized the return on investment just wasn't there. So I walked a bit, took a break, reassessed my speed. Now I'm back to a jog—using Twitter (I hope) more effectively and reasonably. I do want to stay in touch with friends and make new contacts, while staying informed about topics of interest; Twitter supports those goals. I just have to keep a reasonable pace.
If You're Not Ahead...
Tuesday, November 17. 2009
This past weekend, I officially Got Behind on my writing goal for November.
There are so many things competing for my time this month! Over the weekend, I spent exactly zero hours on my novel. Saturday, I ran a 5K road race, then spent the rest of the day in the Tourist Zone. On Sunday, I ran a 10K road race, then spent the rest of the day at Ft. Wilderness, where my parents currently have their RV parked. Yesterday, I spent the day at Kennedy Space Center and watched the launch of Atlantis (the third—and, sadly, probably the last—shuttle launch I've witnessed in person). I had a great weekend...but my novel didn't.
The graph at right tells it all—I need to spend over 14 hours on my novel today to get back to parity. Sadly, there's a full-time job I have to take care of, too, so I don't think I'll be able to make that much time for writing today. What I'll have to do is work "extra hard" over the next week or so to try and catch up. Evenings and weekends must be consumed by writing, writing, writing.
This past weekend, I officially Got Behind on my writing goal for November.
There are so many things competing for my time this month! Over the weekend, I spent exactly zero hours on my novel. Saturday, I ran a 5K road race, then spent the rest of the day in the Tourist Zone. On Sunday, I ran a 10K road race, then spent the rest of the day at Ft. Wilderness, where my parents currently have their RV parked. Yesterday, I spent the day at Kennedy Space Center and watched the launch of Atlantis (the third—and, sadly, probably the last—shuttle launch I've witnessed in person). I had a great weekend...but my novel didn't.
The graph at right tells it all—I need to spend over 14 hours on my novel today to get back to parity. Sadly, there's a full-time job I have to take care of, too, so I don't think I'll be able to make that much time for writing today. What I'll have to do is work "extra hard" over the next week or so to try and catch up. Evenings and weekends must be consumed by writing, writing, writing.
There are so many things competing for my time this month! Over the weekend, I spent exactly zero hours on my novel. Saturday, I ran a 5K road race, then spent the rest of the day in the Tourist Zone. On Sunday, I ran a 10K road race, then spent the rest of the day at Ft. Wilderness, where my parents currently have their RV parked. Yesterday, I spent the day at Kennedy Space Center and watched the launch of Atlantis (the third—and, sadly, probably the last—shuttle launch I've witnessed in person). I had a great weekend...but my novel didn't.
The graph at right tells it all—I need to spend over 14 hours on my novel today to get back to parity. Sadly, there's a full-time job I have to take care of, too, so I don't think I'll be able to make that much time for writing today. What I'll have to do is work "extra hard" over the next week or so to try and catch up. Evenings and weekends must be consumed by writing, writing, writing.
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