The Struggle of Writing Daily
January 12th 2009 13:24
Some writers can quite happily and easily write every day; others like myself are horrible procrastinators, whose inspiration comes and goes. We love our craft, yes, but don't always have the willpower to get through it each and every day. For those of us who suffer from depression, this may be a symptom of it. We all deal with hard times in different ways-I write poetry when I'm depressed. I can't focus long enough for a novel-length project. Other people pour their heart and soul into novels because it's all they can do.
I've been trying to write at least a short blog post every day and have so far succeeded for the most part. I'm proud of this; I'm hoping that I can keep it up for the rest of the year. I do enjoy blogging, and I enjoy knowing that people read my work. It's not that huge a number-my daily stats keep my ego down to be sure-but it's something.
I write to reach out to others. Maybe I don't want to change the entire world; maybe I do, and maybe I never will be able to. But so long as I can change the way one person thinks, or give them a day or two of entertainment with my words, to help one person, that's all that matters. And who knows, maybe the one person I will reach is the one that will change the world.
Why do you write? What do you write? Do you truly love the work you do? If so, then continue; and if you can't write every day, write as many as you can. But never write if it's pure agony to work on your big project. Just do something short, freewrite, journal, but don't force yourself to work on a novel. You may discover that your passion for it is dying-that it's time to move on.
Writing is about passion, or at least that's what I think. We don't do all the things we're passionate about every day; I don't at least. I don't even see the majority of the people I care about every day. I see people I'm friends with, yes, but not necessarily close to.
Realizing why you write will help you with the struggle; it will give you the freedom to do what you want. Knowing why you write will tell you what you should really be writing. And if you realize that you want to start blogging or getting into nonfiction, that's great; as long as you know where you're going.
Write something today. Say... a paragraph about why you write, what you want to do with your writing. I'd love to hear it.
~Dianna
I've been trying to write at least a short blog post every day and have so far succeeded for the most part. I'm proud of this; I'm hoping that I can keep it up for the rest of the year. I do enjoy blogging, and I enjoy knowing that people read my work. It's not that huge a number-my daily stats keep my ego down to be sure-but it's something.
I write to reach out to others. Maybe I don't want to change the entire world; maybe I do, and maybe I never will be able to. But so long as I can change the way one person thinks, or give them a day or two of entertainment with my words, to help one person, that's all that matters. And who knows, maybe the one person I will reach is the one that will change the world.
Why do you write? What do you write? Do you truly love the work you do? If so, then continue; and if you can't write every day, write as many as you can. But never write if it's pure agony to work on your big project. Just do something short, freewrite, journal, but don't force yourself to work on a novel. You may discover that your passion for it is dying-that it's time to move on.
Writing is about passion, or at least that's what I think. We don't do all the things we're passionate about every day; I don't at least. I don't even see the majority of the people I care about every day. I see people I'm friends with, yes, but not necessarily close to.
Realizing why you write will help you with the struggle; it will give you the freedom to do what you want. Knowing why you write will tell you what you should really be writing. And if you realize that you want to start blogging or getting into nonfiction, that's great; as long as you know where you're going.
Write something today. Say... a paragraph about why you write, what you want to do with your writing. I'd love to hear it.
~Dianna
| 64 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
Comment by Andrew Kerstetter
A New Poetics
Inkwing
Cinemuscle
I never thought about someone reading my work maybe being the one who will change the world. That's a very interesting thought!
Yeah I feel I have to write these fantasy novels if for nothing else than my own peace of mind...i've had the world and characters and story in my head for so long I feel if I can get them down on paper I can relax! But it's tough to discipline myself to sit down and write it. It's so easy to just sit there and let the thoughts come flying by randomly, but to put them down coherently is a tough thing to do.
Kudos on being consistent with the blog. I've been consistent so far, but it's only been a little over a week...we'll see how well I'm doing a few months from now!
-Andy
Comment by Kleonaptra
Kalikapsychosis
I used to do nothing but write in every spare moment, especially on The Savage Princess, (the fantasy story my characters are from) and I was so inspired, I loved working on it. But now I hate it - its too huge, I keep getting lost in it. I try and scale down, work on a piece at a time, but Im just not motivated.
I have another dozen or so novels to work on, plus short stories, but they arent getting much either. You are so right about depression - I have always hated poetry but when down, its all I can stand and it usually helps.
You are also right about 'forcing' yourself. I used to do that on 'Savage' just determined to write five pages a day at least. I think thats what made me shy away from it!
But the cure for me, was to start writing down all my nightmares in the form of a novel. I was just toying with it at first - and now the thing is 300 pages! It has helped me big time to create characters to go through hell for me, put distance between myself and everything thats happened. And it flows so easily, the easiest thing Ive ever written, the downside is that it isnt literary, at all, just slung at the page. So I dont realy appreciate it as 'real' writing. But hey, written in slang, it may appeal to the non reading market!
Why do I write? Because Im compelled. Because I get cool scenes in my head and I have to create them. Then its, how did they get there? Why? Where did they go after that? Suddenly, you have a whole story. Its an awesome feeling.
Comment by Dianna G
I Wish This Was 42
Fictional Worlds
Staying consistent isn't easy, but it's something you have to do to some extent. I hope you're successful with this, blogging and your writing outside of blogging.
I find that during things like Nanowrimo I can put out huge amounts of writing and work, but I spend a large portion of the year suffering from a dry spell. I'm trying really hard to fight that this year and only somewhat succeeding.
~Dianna
Kleo,
In my mind it all depends on what you're blogging about; some things are more 'writing' than others. Writing a post explaining something, writing a 'rant' or other such thing-I view that as real writing and it goes into my WriYe word count. Writing a post saying 'I injured my wrist, I may be scarce for a few days' is another thing altogether.
I think there's a very fine line when it comes to the idea of forcing yourself to write; there's forcing yourself to write something, anything even if it's not directly related, and there's forcing yourself to write something very specific and structured. And when you work too much on the fine details, it becomes harder to work on the actual story, the bigger picture as it were.
As for poetry-I used to hate poetry myself; I find that I still have an intense dislike for most poetry, but free verse is another thing. If I don't have any rules, I do well; but rules stifle my creativity, more so when I'm depressed. Struggling to make a rhyme pisses me off. Letting it flow... works.
Interesting thoughts from both of you.
~Dianna
Comment by Tania Crivellenti
Written Life
The Dancing Bug
Aussie Folly
Delirios Australianos
Reading your post made me think even more about it. And I realised how important it is to post something, somewhere, everyday.
Thank you.
Comment by Dianna G
I Wish This Was 42
Fictional Worlds
Writing something-even if it's only something tiny-each day is important. We may not make our word count or page count goals each day, but so long as we tried we have not failed.
I look forward to the day I can honestly say I make enough money off my writing to consider it a profession; part of me doubts that day will ever come. But who knows? I refuse to give up in the name of adversity.
The determination to keep going though all the hard times as well as the easy ones is what makes us really writers.
~Dianna