Writing
problems. We all have them – blocks, ideas that just aren’t working, words that
won’t come or don’t sound right, lack of time, energy, etc… This gig, by which
I mean writing, it isn’t for the faint of heart, or the half-hearted. It’s funny,
but more and more lately I’ve wondered that writing is a lot like life. It’s a
balancing act of finding time vs. making time. A battle between having the right
words and forcing any words out. It’s a struggle between knowing the right thing
(or way or road or whatever) and having to guess.
And it is a
constant series of wondering if what you’ve done is good enough, if it was done
fast enough, long enough, enough, enough, enough…
Having 4
kids, one only 4 months old, means it takes either a lot of scheduling to get
time where I can simply sit at my computer and write, or it takes sacrificing of sleep. Some times it takes the scheduling of sacrificed sleep to
get myself in front of this computer. And alright, full truth, sometimes it’s
just a matter of luck too. (Right now, for instance, I’m able to sit at my
computer writing this because the baby fell back to sleep after it’s morning
feed, the girls are at my parents, and the boy had a couple friends sleep over
and they tried to stay up all night and are still in exhausted slumber. See –
luck!)
When I do
get to the computer I’ve got about a dozen projects on the go between work, my sister’s
wedding, and other personal ideas that I’ve been working on. Writing, some
times is simply not at the top of the list. And other times I’m just burnt out
enough from everything else going on in life, that when writing is at the top I
just can’t, or don’t feel like I can.
It’s been
that way for me for a while now. That feeling of can’t.
I hate it.
Yet, at the
same time, I know that I’m simply not the type of writer that can sit down and
force a story. I mean, I could, but I’ve done it before and, well, it was
horrible. The writing was horrible. The story that came from it was horrible. I’m
talking: even my 13-year old daughter thought it was bad, horrible. Everything
was stilted, one-dimensional, tired sounding, and honestly just plain painful
to read. So yeah, forcing out a story – not really my thing.
Lately though I’ve been feeling the need to write again. The whispers in the back of my mind while I go about my day. The familiar tones and voices of my characters as they’ve once again began asking me to tell their stories. The sensations are wonderful, my dreams are again colourful and coming to life, and I’m looking forward to some quality time with my keyboard. Or pen and paper. Or my phone’s voice memo app. (Like I said time is a crunch with 4 kids.)
So writing problems… What have yours been lately?
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