Writing: An Indecisive Art

Thursday, March 1, 2012


Writing is hard. This may sound whiny to the average person, but it really isn't. They clearly aren't taking into account the planning, thinking, and then the stressing when you swear you hit 'Ctrl + S'  before logging off. 

And then there's that day when every insecurity and put down you've ever told to stuff it that your inner editor's said comes back tenfold:

Are you kidding? You call that writing?

Seriously?

Oh, God. And you say you want to be a bestseller...

*insert character name* is a complete waste of time. A dog could tell you that.   

You and your idea of a good romance makes me sick. 

Just kill *insert character name* already... 

And the list goes on. Of course, these eventually do go away. You know, when you read back over that brilliant scene and just start crying buckets or going into hysterics over your own work.
But somehow, you get past all this. Bravo. But then you have another question as you stare at your painfully blank document:

Uh, so like, what do I write?

Yep. Even if you have about a billion notes on a story, how the heck are you supposed to just sit down an put the words to paper... er, word document? Well, to illustrate just how hard that is, I'm going to describe a common writing day:

You sit down on the sofa/chair/bed and pull out your laptop/typewriter/pen. "I think I'm gonna write a bit," you say, opening your document/typewriter/notebook. Proudly, you see the *insert number* words you've written. 
This is gonna be a piece of cake! you think. You write for about 30 minutes, then start procrastinating. In this order, you check:

{Computer Writers}
***
Email
Favorite Websites 
Blogger
Forum
RP 
Twitter, Facebook etc. (optional) 

{Pen&Paper, Typewriters}
***
Mailbox
Library
Book 
Newsletter 

And then you go back to your document and decide to give your character weird. hair for no apparent reason besides the fact you saw a totally awesome photo on Pinterest.
And in the end... you don't even remember what you set out to do. Besides google pics of cute kittens. But then, however many months/years(/lives?! O_O) later, as you hold your finished manuscript in your hands, you think:

It was all worth it. 

                 

8 comments :

  1. No one has actually said those things to you right, Pink? O.O

    And that hair is awesome. I want hair like that.

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  2. LOL! Of course not- I suppose that was a rather extreme representation of our own insecurities on a day to day basis XDD

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  3. writing is defintly hard. hehe i have no doubt about that, my sister thinks like that out loud all the time when she is writing. But that just means that you are taking it seriously and are determined to get it right. awsome post.

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  4. Good post!! Being a writer IS hard....an IRL friend of mine recently insulted my writing and told me that it's "Not real" because I often write fanfiction. I did everything short of slapping her across the face. XD I did lecture her about art imitating life, and how my writing is VERY real, so real that it could slap her for me. (I'm defensive when it comes to my passions...) ;)

    Very good post, thought provoking! ;) Love you Pinky! <33

    Fally <3

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  5. This post is very true. Writing it not easy and it is easy to get distracted but it is always worth it when you finish :)

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  6. CinderScoriaMarch 02, 2012

    Good Lord, I don't even want to think about that. Writers = BIGGEST PROCRASTINATORS. I should be writing right now, actually. What am I doing? Checking out your awesome blog.

    Gah.

    I mean, no offense to your awesome blog. xD

    AHAHAHAHA yeah, it'll all be worth it... when we finish it... I liked this rant. ^_^ It's ironically true. Or maybe not-so-ironically. It's just true.

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  7. Oh my goodness. What, do you watch over my shoulder as I'm writing? Are you some kind of genie? How is it that you've just summed up my entire writing process?! O.O

    Procrastination is a huge part of my writing process, and one of the most annoying parts as well. I'll be typing, and then decide, "Let me check my email, maybe I've got something interesting." Fifteen minutes later I'm wandering around my blog, wondering, How did I even get here? Go back to document, start typing for a few minutes, rinse, repeat. xD

    And ugh, that nasty self-doubt! I doubt myself all the time. I HATE that part of writing even more than I hate procrastination. I actually wrote a post about it not long ago!

    Also, have you seen the blog Go Teen Writers? It's written by a published author and directed at teen writers, with writing tips, information on getting published, and so much more. Definitely worth a peek!

    Great post!

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  8. Whoah, It's like you wrote this post about me. XD ooooh wow. you are so right! SO RIGHT ON.

    I've actually seen that hair picture before! Pretty epic, huh?

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comments make me smile. :)