I've decided that I absolutely have to do something with myself. I'm restless, i'm agitated, I'm angry at myself and I need to do something about it. I'm not sure if this is the catalyst or not, but I read about Myra getting a two book deal for her YA (that's young adult) novel. i don't know her 'for reals', but I've read her blog, she's a wonderful writer, I bet her novel is great, and she'll be very successful. Reading about her, tho, made me incredibly jealous.
I feel like I need to write something. I love books, I love words. The way they go together, and the way they sound. I love the way you can put them together and they can mean one thing, and then switch the same words around and they mean something else.
The trouble is, I don't feel a story inside me, trying to get out. I keep waiting to be inspired or something like that, and it's just not happening. It just ain't there. There are no characters in my head talking to me, telling me the story that needs to be told.
I write, all the time. I write for a living. I've written silly little poems to commemorate goofy adventures, I've written a eulogy. I've written reviews of concerts and plays. My friends tell me that I have a talent for writing. When people need an angry letter written, or someone needs a letter of reference, they call me. And I write it. There are times when i've done this, and i feel like it's a piece of crap, and people still seem to like it.
From the reading I've done, the quasi research, if you can call it that, writers need to have some discipline when it comes to writing. Author/bloggers that I've read talk about setting aside specific times to write, setting themselves goals of words per day. They say that you need to write, every day, and it doesnt matter that what you write is crap, but it needs to be done. Every. Damn. Day.
So, that's where I am today. I cannot wait for the elusive muse of writing. I cannot wait to be struck by inspiration. I need to go out and hunt down my muse, drag her kicking and screaming back to my lair and tie her to my desk until she spits out an idea for me. Apparently this writing thing is no airy fairy task, it's a freaking job that you need to take seriously.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
I don't believe you have to write every day. Of course, in a perfect world, I would, but our worlds are not perfect. Your writing skills certainly improve faster when you do it daily, like with anything else, basketball, piano, painting... but when you hold down a full-time job and have a family, it can be failuresome (made up word) to make a goal of writing daily. Some days, like when you find out your daughter has lice, just don't allow time to write.
I write as much as I can, when I can. I fit it in here, there, evening, morning, afternoon, wherever it makes sense for the day. I wish it were different, but that's how it is for me.
So what I'm saying is: be careful about setting a goal to write every day. If you set yourself up for failure, you'll feel like one, and that's not good for a writer. :)
Like Tracy, I do not write every day. But I do write on days that the spirit doesn't move me. If I only wrote when I was inspired, then my writing days would be few and far between. But if I make myself sit down, in front of a word document, then I always get writing done.
Don't wait for the story. Plunge in and see where it takes you.
Everyone does it differently.
I don't write every day.
Do you read a lot? I think reading is inspiring. So say you read a memoir and you go, "Hey, my life is more interesting than that." Or you read something in the newspaper that sparks your curiosity about a historical event and then you research the event and stick some characters in it and then voila, you have a fabulous book and me to thank (with a margarita or a million dollars, whichever is easiest)
I do think you should write. I bet you'd write a great book.
verification: wholityp translation: who lit you up
"I need to go out and hunt down my muse, drag her kicking and screaming back to my lair and tie her to my desk until she spits out an idea for me."
Yeah. Exactly. For my last middle-grade novel I sat myself at the computer and just started typing. No character in my head. No plot. No NOTHING. And somewhere amid that stream-of-consciousness gobbledygook was a story.
I don't write every day, either. Life just doesn't work that way for me.
Sounds like a plan. Just dont get arrested for kidnapping because I'm sure that couldn't be good for your writing career; you would have too many other things to worry about.
Thanks for the advice, all. I like the idea of making it fit in, Tracy, there are too many occasions when your kids get lice and your plans go awry. I do not need to set myself up for failure.
I've heard so much about people who say that it's imperative to write daily. It's great to hear about others who have a bit more of a relaxed style.
Heather, I do plan on writing when the spirit does not move me. I find that, when i do open up that word program, i do write. I am plunging myself.
Anita, i do love to read, always have. i used to get in trouble at school, for reading when i was supposed to be doing math. i find sometimes that i can sometimes get discouraged by reading those who are so much better than i am. I'm working on getting past that and working on observing writing styles.
i like the stream of consciousness thing. that's the way my daily writing is going, for the past few, anyway. i think it's spurring my creative process. i've been remembering my dreams, and thinking more creatively.
oh, and offspring,... don't worry about me getting arrested for kidnapping.I don't think our laws apply to muses.
I know that because it's a comment on a blog that it's not imperative to edit. However, come on Momma. lol. :)
Post a Comment