writing

Day -93 – How do you write?

/ Vagabond63 / Leave a comment

writingI’ve been missing from my blog lately, sure I posted yesterday, but that was only when I opened my file and realized I had written a pretty good write up and never posted it, so it doesn’t count.

My husband and I have been discussing my writing a lot lately, I’m a bit unfocused right now, it is what we call the “off season.”  Now the difference between the “season” and the “off season” for us is that we are not currently hosting any events.  It doesn’t mean we are less busy, we are just busy doing all the things we don’t do during the season.

The off season started right before Thanksgiving this year, we got back from Baja and the Score 1000 to spend an extra week in greater Phoenix so we could attend a few parties and see some partners; then off to Sacramento and a longer than usual visit with my in-laws.  We got to see a lot of friends and eliminate a major monthly expense (storage units, don’t get me started on what I think of those), and of course spend time with family, always worth it.  Then a quick trip to LA to pick up our youngest daughter, another trip to Utah to see the middle one, and finally to Idaho to see the oldest daughter for the holidays.  That took a month, but seemed to fly by.

We stayed in Idaho longer than intended (another story, I might have to share), and then to Montana – the same place we spent last winter working on a house we own.  But the question posed here was not what are we doing, but how do I write?

The above just explains my unfocus, it’s not that I lack material, it’s that I lack discipline.  During the season, there is time scheduled for sitting at my laptop, right now, it is hit and miss because we are always moving.

When I start a blog, it is with a sentence, maybe two that has found its way in to my brain and needs to come out.  The beginning sentence is almost always formed before I touch the keyboard, what follows never is.  I might have thought of a direction, but as soon as I start typing, it could become overshadowed by something else. I really don’t know where I’m going until it is written. 

My mind naturally flows for 400 to 500 words and then it concludes.  I can’t seem to plan it.  It takes about twenty minutes to write, another twenty to edit and post and it is done.

In November, I tried to participate in NaNoWriMo, for the third year in a row.  First off, I know I’m going to have to pick a different month, November starts with SEMA – never a good time for me.  But putting that aside, I can’t seem to plan my writing.  I have good story ideas, or at least the beginnings are good, I just don’t know where they are going.  It is the same phenomenon as when I blog, it just starts to flow, then it stops.  I tried this year to create a story outline, it wasn’t very inspiring.

Next on my list is Non-Fiction Now!, I think this will be easier for me because it is more task oriented, I’ve started, just need to find that discipline that I’ve been missing. I am a list maker, and non-fiction seems to lend itself over to lists, why can’t I do the same with fiction?  If you blog, write novels or write non-fiction, how do you do it?  Do you know where you are going before you start? 

 

Advertisement

Day 116 – Writer’s Block

/ Vagabond63 / Leave a comment

writers blockIt’s been a month since I wrote anything at all.  Not just posted, but wrote.  I have had a severe case of writer’s block, not sure it’s over yet…but I have to start somewhere.  I have a dozen things to write about, but my process has let me down, so I haven’t begun.  Fortunately, at least for me, I wrote down the initial idea, now if I can just get the feeling back that I had when I was experiencing it, that would be awesome.

Maybe my process is flawed, but I have always found that if the first three sentences are written in my head before I sit down at the computer, the rest will flow.  Not so this past month.  Nothing has been in my head, so it doesn’t even occur to me to sit down and write.  I’ve been on my computer plenty, but that is just work related, marking things off my ever changing list of things to do.  No writing, no creative thoughts, no fun.

I love writing, I miss it.  I miss knowing that someone may read what I have to say.  It is satisfying to have “readers”, even more so to have “fans.”  It makes me sad to think I’m missing out.  But I’ve done it to myself.  I’ve had my blog for just over 200 days, I have some subscribers, some regular readers, but not a lot.  Most of my reads are referred from Facebook, where I have a few friends and Big has even more.  So, I disappointed myself when a friend suggested I read someone else’s blog and I realized that a 17 year old had 10+ times as many followers as I did, and she had just begun her blog.  It kind of depressed me.  What was I doing wrong?  And I have just realized, that I am doing nothing wrong.  We all have different influences, different circles…I am happy in mine, I just needed to remember that.

Another of life’s lessons, a reminder that I’m not in competition with others, I am my own voice.  I write for my satisfaction, not that of others.  Like I said, it is satisfying to have readers and fans, but not necessary for the process.  This isn’t about who is more popular, this is about recording my life, my observations, my experiences.  If you enjoy them, I thank you, stick with me, we are going to continue to have a good time and experience life to the fullest.  Life is a journey, I need to remember to Create the Life I Imagine…thanks for helping me with that.