Well, not that guy. Me. I'm one of them.
You may be familiar with some of my reasons. Drafting is my least favorite part of the process, and with two unpaid novels in the hopper, and a yes-paid job, my motivation for doing the sucky part has been sapped.
And you know what? My reasons are good reasons. I'm doing creative work for my dream job and excelling at it, and I've got novels on the submission train. My priorities are right where they should be. This is what 99.9% of my friends tell me when I bring up the fact that I've written an average of 1,000 words/month lately.
They're absolutely right. Everything's cool. I don't have to write.
But there was that 0.1%, that one friend (I have exactly 1,000 friends; prove I don't), who had to go and say something different that stabbed me right in the gut because it was exactly what I needed to hear. The wonderful and not-at-all maniacal Authoress grabbed me by the shoulders and said, "You must keep writing, because you are a writer."
Ow! OwowowowowieowieOWow.
It's absolutely true that when push comes to shove, the paid job wins (actually the family wins, but they get on a timeout when they shove me, so . . .). But I've been tackling every single day like my job was in crunch time. I am a game designer. But I'm also a writer. If I can't figure out a way to do both, then . . .
Well, I just have to figure out a way to do both.
I know it can be done. I know because I find time to tweet, read, play chess online, and even draw. I don't have to write a lot (see the aforementioned priorities), but if I can't find time to squeeze out even 250 words in a day? That qualifies as pathetic.
Well, pathetic for me. You make your own goals.
What are your goals? How's your writing going?
That's 362 words right there. You're done for the day!
ReplyDeleteI don't consider not writing every day as pathetic at all. I don't write every day. But not writing every MONTH? Or even every week? Yeah, that would be bad.
ReplyDeleteCould it be you're just not inspired by your current project? I find that inspiration can ebb and flow. I also do not beat myself up for taking a break from one thing or another.
All that said, Authoress is right, dude. You're a writer. Always will be.
Dude, I feel you. But like Steve said, blogging counts, and email and letters and all the other ways we can 'write' to communicate and express ourselves. I know you're thinking about writing 250 for the same project, but don't let the other writing slip away. It counts. It's practice. It's craft. And um, you KNOW the Authoress?! Like she physically touched you?! That right there is angelic! Heed her power and get to writin'.
ReplyDeleteI find that I can get up half an hour earlier in the morning and write. It's hard, but then the house is quiet, the kids aren't up yet and it's doable. The trick then will become 'stopping' to start the day and all the other stuff you have to do.
Do your best. You've got our support!
I used to write 5 days a week, 2 days off. Now I write 7 days. My new motto: no zero word days.
ReplyDeleteYesterday I wrote 90 words. It was a freaking triumph on top of everything else that had to happen in that day.
But because I wrote those 90 yesterday, I'm primed to write a whole lot more today.
So, yes, write every day.
I should have told you this before. #FriendFail
You just need to get back in the habit. For me, starting (drafting or revising) is the hard part. Once I've established a habit, the Dread goes away and lets me enjoy my story.
ReplyDeleteI assumed that writing WAS part of your job. Haven't you been writing story for Torment?
I hear you. When I began querying my novel, it was easy to tell myself that querying, researching agents, doing online contests, etc was a good use of my time. But, deep down, I knew I had to get writing again.
ReplyDeleteI did NaNo in November and got a very rough draft that may or not be worth revising. And over Christmas break I came up with another novel idea. So, for this year, my goal is to write every weekday, at least a little (and on weekends if I can, but I won't beat myself up if I miss those days).
Yes, I still need to query, and research, and whatnot, but I can balance those with writing.
Good luck!
Dude, i'm totally with you. I was working on my new WIP. But then things happened (revisions requests from agents) and i KNOW i need to be able to draft and revise at the same time, i just...haven't. I need to kick myself in the ass a bit.
ReplyDelete@Vanessa: I may have been exaggerating about being grabbed by the shoulders. I have yet to meet Authoress in real life, but I do consider her a very good friend. It's only a matter of time.
ReplyDeleteStupid geography.
This is odd to me, because drafting is my favourite part! Editing is the hard slog...
ReplyDeleteBut there's nothing wrong with taking a break now and again, especially if, as you said, you're busy working on other stuff!