Finding The Time

Just as the title says, it's sometimes hard to find the time to write. Whether it's a blog post or my current WIP, it's such a pain for me some days. I've gotten the advice (multiple times) to set aside a time every day to write. Fifteen minutes, an hour, three hours, it doesn't matter what the limit. For some reason I can't bring myself to stick to this when I try.

I'm a fairly organized person so I like to have a schedule throughout the day to keep me on top of things. For the most part it works. I stick to my list, I manage to complete my tasks. EXCEPT when it comes to my writing.

Why is that? I'm not completely sure, but I think at present my biggest problem is that I'm just not into my current book the way I was when I started it a few weeks ago.

Oh no, here we go again. Unfortunately, that happens to me a lot. I try to stick with it, but it's just not flowing for me. Ok, time to put it away. Maybe only for a little while, maybe forever. Who knows?

I think a lot of writers run into this problem, though some don't like to admit it. It's not about dedication to what you want to achieve in life. It's more about feeling like this...Why would anyone else be interested in my story when I can't even be interested in it?

Writing prompts and exercises can sometimes help get me back in the groove, but not always. Sometimes we just need a little break. But taking a break isn't always a good thing. Let's say you walk away from your WIP because you're just not feeling it. It's good to get some distance sometimes. What happens when you come back to it and realize you don't really want to write this particular story anymore? No big deal because there's always another idea out there waiting for you to put your twist and own personal flavor on it.

Maybe the breaks really are a good thing. Maybe they tell you that no matter how good you thought the story was when you started out, it wasn't all that great really. Maybe there's another one you realized you'd like to tell more. Or maybe you just realize that writing isn't going to be your calling in life.

NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I refuse to believe it. Because even if I don't create a work that perhaps someone else will one day love, I know I'm doing something that I love. So what if I'm never published. Pfft, who needs that anyway. The way I see it, if it makes me happy, I'm going to do it. Regardless of whether or not I finish a book, I will continue to write until I can't do it anymore.

It's what makes me happy, so why not?!?!

So, here's my suggestion. If you can't find the time to open up your computer file and write every day, or week, or whatever, at least do yourself a favor and jot your ideas down on the fly. In a notebook, on your phone, wherever is convenient for you to do so. Don't let them slip away into the abyss, because some day you may just end up regretting it.

Disappointment in Reading

We write because we love it. Right? Right! So why do some books feel like zero love was put into them? I've only come across a few books like this in my life, but they were major disappointments to me. They seemed to read like the authors rushed through them just to meet a publication deadline. It felt like their hearts and minds weren't in the story they were trying to tell.

Oh, tears of sorrow and rage. How could I possibly put a book down thinking it had no heart, no life of it's own? That's truly how I feel about books. They are a world unto themselves. I want to feel like I'm a part of it, warm in it's light and cold in it's dark.

Some books, I feel, are incapable of creating that complete immersion for me. Though they are few and far in between. But when it does happen, I at least try to figure out why I feel that way. Sometimes it has to do with technique, character depth (or lack thereof), plot issues... The list goes on and on. I've even found this to be true for authors I've read most of my life. When I put my finger on it, I try to learn from it.

Not everyone has the same tastes though. We can always chalk it up to this; it's only my opinion and I'm sure others would disagree with me. But we could also say...it happens. Nobody is perfect and not everything is going to please everybody.

I only hope that if by some miracle I am published sometime in the future, nobody gets that feeling from my book..........