Some people have been wondering exactly how I'm going about doing this writing thing. I wonder what they are thinking. I imagine they think I'm sitting in a Starbucks with pretentious coffee and a pretentious laptop with pretentious glasses drinking and looking frustrated and pounding out words that sound too archaic to be in anything but a book. Or that I can magically write page after page after page because creative writing is easier than critical writing.
My weeks as of late have been pretty much laid out like this:
Monday/Wednesday/Friday: Writing in the afternoon. Training in the evening. Writing when I get home.
Tuesday: Read and plan writing path for the week.
Thursday: Writing group review
Weekend days are for resting.
Now, it sounds like a lot of writing done, but really it isn't. I'd be happy to net 500 words a week that I'd want to keep, but there's a lot of reading and editing done whenever I say I'm actually writing. Also, in the afternoon I usually do more reviewing than creating, and in the night to early morning is when I do more original material than reedit.
I've learned that you really need to be able to attribute your time to your mental capacity/mood. In an ideal world I'd be able to create anytime I want, but on top of that be able to write perfectly and never have to edit. It's not like that though.
I write better on rainy days than sunny (there's an article about this...something to do with being distracted by awesome weather outside) and I'm more prone to creative thinking late at night than in the daytime.
I'm particularly learning that I don't have to be 100% satisfied, at least not yet. I'm writing, and words on paper means more to the craft than anything. Making progress is satisfying, doubling back is frustrating, and sometimes all the editing in the world won't give you the confidence to back what you just put down.
And the most satisfying part; the most rewarding part of the creative process--you determine the outcome of whatever you're writing. It's not in stone. As my writing teacher once told me, "You are the God of your own work."
Moral of this story of story-writing: Write freely. Edit harshly. Read carefully. Screwing up will do you good in the long run.
My weeks as of late have been pretty much laid out like this:
Monday/Wednesday/Friday: Writing in the afternoon. Training in the evening. Writing when I get home.
Tuesday: Read and plan writing path for the week.
Thursday: Writing group review
Weekend days are for resting.
Now, it sounds like a lot of writing done, but really it isn't. I'd be happy to net 500 words a week that I'd want to keep, but there's a lot of reading and editing done whenever I say I'm actually writing. Also, in the afternoon I usually do more reviewing than creating, and in the night to early morning is when I do more original material than reedit.
I've learned that you really need to be able to attribute your time to your mental capacity/mood. In an ideal world I'd be able to create anytime I want, but on top of that be able to write perfectly and never have to edit. It's not like that though.
I write better on rainy days than sunny (there's an article about this...something to do with being distracted by awesome weather outside) and I'm more prone to creative thinking late at night than in the daytime.
I'm particularly learning that I don't have to be 100% satisfied, at least not yet. I'm writing, and words on paper means more to the craft than anything. Making progress is satisfying, doubling back is frustrating, and sometimes all the editing in the world won't give you the confidence to back what you just put down.
And the most satisfying part; the most rewarding part of the creative process--you determine the outcome of whatever you're writing. It's not in stone. As my writing teacher once told me, "You are the God of your own work."
Moral of this story of story-writing: Write freely. Edit harshly. Read carefully. Screwing up will do you good in the long run.
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