Don’t get me
wrong – I love writing, especially now, despite all the gazillion rejections
streaming in on a daily basis. I am finally enjoying the process, rather than
indulging in the thrills of “having written.”
However
there are quite a few things I don’t like about being a writer:
- So much to write, so little time
This is not the fault of
writing of course, but it does demand intense concentration and time. The
creative gene inspires ideas but the world doesn’t grant us the time to write
all of them. It also takes away time from socializing in the real word – I’ve
skipped many a weekend party in favour of writing.
- Sometimes, the words just don’t come
After stealing all that
time, when I sit down to write, the words that bombard my brain at all the
wrong times retreat into a shell and need immense coaxing to draw them out.
- When the words come, they’re crap
The first draft of
everything is crap. It may improve with practice but sometimes it’s so bad it’s
better to scrap it all and start again.
- When we send our stuff out we get rejections
In more than five years of
writing and submitting, I can count only a handful of times that a piece I sent
out was accepted by the first place I sent it to. My story that
won 2nd place in the On The Premises
contest last year is a good example of this.
- When we don’t send stuff out we’re not moving forward
The fear of rejection and
submitting makes us hold on to our creative efforts, but without sending it out
we’re not really taking ourselves to the next level
- We have to believe we’re the best in order to succeed
Writers need supreme
confidence in themselves and their work so they can pitch agents and publishers
and plough through despite all the rejections
- We have to accept we’re not the best so that we can
improve in order to succeed
Writers also need to turn
a critical eye on themselves so they can humbly accept feedback and revise
their work to near-perfection
- Stuff that looks perfect today looks crap the next day
The final draft is never
final and even after time and distance away from it when I see it next I feel
its way below par.
- The right word lies on the tip of the tongue and rarely
ever comes out
The struggle to find the
word that exactly matches what you’re thinking of is perpetual. A thesaurus
makes it easier but not always.
- Looks easy but is very tough to do
This is the biggest
problem with writing – the easiest writing that looks the most effortless is
actually the hardest to do.
How do you
feel about writing these days? Anything you can add to the above list?
W
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