It’s been two weeks since I last posted a blog post. I started and stopped a short story this week. I’ve worked on my novel a little bit. Progress is slow, but steady.
Currently, I’m trying to figure out whether to resurrect and work on Little Birdhouses. I believe the story has potential. The ending sucks. Just saying. It needs work. And I started the daunting task of editing and stopped. I think I’ve edited the thing about 17 times, and something about the structure needs to change at this point. That’s not hard to do, it just takes time. And time is in short supply since school is back in, and activities, and church, and Christmas is coming—just to name a few time-sucks. Plus, structure changes usually mean a visual layout of the work (aka printing it and moving around the chapters on the floor).
But my mind has been back on writing and that is a plus. I stepped away, and when I did I didn’t miss it. I truly believe in order to be a good writer one has to live their life. Creativity ebbs and flows. Sometimes we need to experience and sometimes we need to write. Sometimes we do both. I wish I could write every day, but when I do I start to have a sense of burnout. I also tend to push others away and live in my imaginary world. I’m pretty sure that’s not a good place to be when you have a husband and three children depending on you!
Being married to a writer must be tough. I know I’m not the easiest person to live with. I am introspective. I think a lot. But, unlike a lot of other writers, I’m outgoing. I do withdrawal into my own cave and own little world sometimes. I like to have my alone time, and I’m perfectly content being by myself in most cases. When I’m not, I want meaningful conversations not just small talk. My husband is great about letting me be creative, or letting me be by myself when I need to. In that respect, we’re a perfect match.
I have been thinking a lot about my characters in relation to myself lately. All writers put a little (or a lot) of themselves in their books. I read Full Dark No Stars by Stephen King a few years back, and one of my biggest take away from that book was that King must be scared to death of rats. Recently I watched 1922, which I’d read, and seeing the rats on screen was quite disturbing.
Writers write out their fears, their dreams, and pieces of their lives. They bleed part of their soul onto paper and hope their readers will gain some kind of meaning from it, some kind of oneness. Because, after all, the point in writing is connection. Giving a sense of part of your world to others and hoping they find meaning in it, or even just entertainment.
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Lauren Greene, Author 
It’s good to see you writing again. I was in a chat session recently and I talked about being burned out. I expressed the frustrations I had with writing every day. It’s like I set myself up for failure in some ways. I tried writing every day. The moment I missed a day, I would beat myself up about it. Also, I would read about how writers are writing novels and here I am writing short stories.
Someone recently questioned if I was truly a writer. I felt insulted, but I understood why the question was asked. I shared some frustrations with my writing. I shared a lot of regrets I had in my writing journey. One regret was not having a manuscript. Another was waiting so long to submit a story to a magazine or enter a contest. But perhaps the biggest is wasting so much time comparing myself to every other writer out there. It’s a combination of these things that had me questioning whether I was cut out to be a writer. But a lot of people on social media gave me a jolt and reminded me that I am a writer, even if I don’t write every day. Even if I don’t have a manuscript. Even if I get rejected a thousand times.
This week, I picked the pen back up and started writing short stories. I made a commitment to write at least four stories for the remainder of the year. Plus, I made a commitment to enter a contest or submit a story to be considered for publication before the year is over. I keep hearing rejection is part of the writing process; that it will make you a better writer. At the end of the day, that’s what I want to do. And so, I will go in guns blazing.
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Rejection is certainly part of the process! I need to write like I need to breathe. I find I’m more creative when I take the pressure off myself and just let myself write. We are often harder on ourselves than we should be.
And you are a writer. It took me a long time to label myself as a writer, but I am. If you write, you’re a writer. Own it, and you’ll get further. And don’t listen to the haters–they’re just jealous!
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“And time is in short supply since school is back in, and activities, and church, and Christmas is coming—just to name a few time-sucks.”
AND
“I truly believe in order to be a good writer one has to live their life.”
Aye, there’s the rub. For a writer, regarding writing, all else is a “time-suck” away from the work and yet, a writer has to live their life–plus, obviously there is much love and joy and exploration in living life fully.
You’ve nailed it. Perhaps balance is the grail we all seek.
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Balance is the key, I think!
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Be sure to tell me if you find it😄
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Ha! I will!
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