Lest we forget that this is a writing
blog:
I wrote over 1,200 words
today, not including this blog post, and not including the paper I'm
about to edit for my girlfriend. It was fiction that I wrote. I
enjoyed it very much.
Today is the first day this
month that I've written anything, and in June, the writing was
sporadic at best. In my experience, when I feel fulfilled in other
areas of my life, I write less, and even develop writer's
block, because satisfaction is a poor motivator. When I'm dissatisfied, hurt, wanting, the writing is
incredible. I spent the last couple of weeks in an emotional slump,
so hopefully the writing will be picking up, but I won't
hold my breath.
I'm at a stage right now
where I don't need writing like I did 6 months ago, when I was
working 8 hours a day on my novel. I've made my priorities elsewhere, have found satisfaction in other things than the written
word. I can't say it's what I wanted. Last November I wanted to
stick to this incarnation of my writing career. I wanted to push
past the boundaries, the limits that have always held me back.
I have gone through several
phases through the years, none of them materially successful,
but all rewarding in their own way. I edited a couple of e-zines,
made one into a paying market. I had a semi-successful anxiety blog
that is still out there, hopefully helping someone somewhere. I've
written several unfinished novels, many short stories, tried my hand
at writing internet articles (I absolutely hate doing that).
I don't know what it is
about me. When I'm on I'm on fire. I'm the most motivated man in the
world. When I'm off, nothing turns me back on.
Am I too
goal-oriented?
Success in writing comes slowly. It comes to those who
stick to their guns, but slowly, and it's rarely ever (almost never) the
superstar success non-writers imagine it to be. If you write for the end,
you're going to be in for disappointment. If you write for fun,
putting blinders on so you don't pay attention to the material
success that may come, not only will writing be incredibly rewarding
emotionally, but the money to be made may make for a nice surprise.
So I'm going to regroup. I
hid most of my current projects in a folder, and have just two things
on my desktop that I want to work on. They're two short stories I am
passionate about, but haven't approached because I've been writing other things, things farther from being finished. I
want to get work out there. I want to get more stories published. That is my main “professional” goal.
But short of that, I want to have fun. That means I must write what I
feel like writing; finding the path of least resistance while still challenging myself.
~*~
Now I want to shine a light on something a friend of mine is doing.
Shen Hart is working hard to bring together writers. The dream is
simple: we will help one another.
We will help each other edit
and market and do all the little things that writers need to do
to find material success (and we deserve it, too!). Some of us are
much better at certain skills than at others, and that holds us back in
certain ways. Combining our efforts may help some of us break out.
I'm incredibly proud of Shen
for doing this. It's something I've tried in the past and have given
up on because I lacked her passion and I lacked the community that is
Google+.
If you're interested in
joining Literary+, I hope you will take the time to speak with
Shen. Find out what we're up to, how we can help you and how can you
help us.
Many writers are at different
stages of our careers, with different talents and different needs.
But each of us may fit in somewhere, benefiting from the community effort.
Posts
it's hard to be literally pushed to write. (pun intended). I hope that article I asked you to write wasn't the reason you hate writing articles!!!
ReplyDeleteHeh, no. I found I hated it years ago.
DeleteThis certainly sounds like an interesting and helpful community for any writer, JR! Can I just click on the Literary+ button, or do I contact Shen first? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteOh, and loved hearing how your writing has been going recently. :)
Feel free to circle Literary+. If you have the time to help, you can talk to Shen. I bet any kind of support will be welcomed.
DeleteAnd thank you, hopefully I can keep at it. I've had three productive days in a row, so I'm looking up!
Hey, JR! I've noticed I write more when I'm down as well. And yet, I suppose it is good to be fulfilled and content elsewhere in life, but for me I would prefer fulfillment through writing.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the more you talk about Literary+, the more I'm interested in it. I just fear my lack of motivation after my massive work weeks.
At first I hesitated because I know I don't always follow through on things, but I quickly realized there are a lot of people willing to chip in once in a while. With 40 of us, I'm sure everything will get covered, even if a few of us (or even half of us) are preoccupied.
DeleteYour point on being fulfilled through writing is spot on. That's a good middle way :D