Feeling Like A Writer

"There is no better feeling than walking down the stairs after having done a couple of hours of writing. And there is no worse feeling than going up those stairs to do a couple hours of writing."

Normally I don't do a blog entry immediately after Christmas, instead choosing to rest and relax a little extra before jumping back into my writing shoes. However, I heard that quote above in an interview and it just got the wheels turning, so I had to at least post a little entry about it and how I feel about the physical process of going forth and writing.

I think a lot of people outside the writer's circle just assume we are these eternally creative creatures who can just sit down and generate written-word brilliance, and often do so just for the sake of doing. I also think that same category of people thinks bankers spend every waking hour counting money and scientists constantly pour stuff into test tubes. You and I, however, know a large part of writing is not about writing but about being creative in our existence, and the time we spend in front of a keyboard is limited. (Note: There are a subset of writers who can spend eight hours a day typing away, and I respect that - it's just not the baseline.) 

Rather, I like to remind writers that any task we do in life may, at times, feel like drudgery. Enjoying a nice walk outside can be wonderful, but sometimes we just aren't in a place to put on both shoes and head to the park. It's even more so with vigorous endeavors like writing. When we create, we do a lot of mental gymnastic that take up energy and bring us a certain amount of exhaustion. The end result is often worth it, an no complaints about the endorphins, but let's just acknowledge that it's hard to get excited about that rush of accomplishment when we are stuck on the front end of a big task.

As I head into my next calendar year, I plan on a few things. I want to get my next book, "Easier Than the Truth," out there - I am hoping the workshopping will done by spring. I am also hoping to get my next work, "Gods of the Gaps," into the rough draft stage. However, those tasks will both require several occasions where I have to face the drudgery of going up those steps to do my writing (metaphorically - my house is a ranch-style). I just remind myself that if I want to reach those goals of publication and completion, there will be that difficult part in between. And for now , that's okay.

I will be putting up a post on December 29th, but I will definitely not be posting on January 2nd because hangovers take time to get rid of. Until then, prepare for the drudgery of a new day, because it's worth it.