C-calm?! What!? No! I can't be calm! It's nearly the end of my junior year, I have a bajillion papers to write and books to read and studying to do for the ACT and SAT! No! No time for calm! Plus my job is starting soon, how am I supposed to find time for anything then!? Answer: I'm not! Calm is not a word in my vocabulary!
Just before this, while making my daily blog visits, my stomach started churning (which has NOTHING to do with the flu in my house--I've already made my mind up, I'm not going to get sick) as I thought of all I need to do in the next couple of months. I should not be writing, I should be doing a million other things!
Another freak-out moment happened yesterday. I've begun planning yet another novel (while still in the midst of editing...ugh. This should be interesting) and I realized that it is about to take over my life. I am literally obsessed with this story and my main character. I totally started to panic as I realized that this is the busiest time of the year for me, and here I am, sitting on my bed PLANNING A NOVEL. Which means I'm going to put off everything else until the last second and just work on my new WIP.
Usually, I do not have a problem making time for writing. Writing kind of runs my life.
But when I get out of the habit of writing every day, then the craziness of school, volunteering, and family stuff takes over. It seeps into the hours set aside for writing and steals all my energy. Then I begin to resent writing, and feel guilty about it...it becomes something I should be doing, rather than something I want to be doing.
The only way to remedy this is just JUMP IN AGAIN. Pen and paper is much more forgiving than the writer. It will always be there. We just need to get over the fact that we haven't written in a while and put one word in front of the other.
Of course, the best way to not fall away from writing is to just write. Write something every single day. It's probably something that you've heard a million times, but it has been proven true in my life time and time again. Whether it's a paragraph, ten chapters, blog post, or journal entry--JUST WRITE.
For goodness' sakes, we're writers. Don't let the busyness of the world steal that from you. You're a writer. You write. So go write.
:) Like how you say writing runs your life! Exactly. wonderful article Anne.
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Thanks, Sytiva! Means a lot.
DeleteThanks so much! This post helps. I feel guilty for writing sometimes because it takes time away from doing other things that other people consider "important." Some times these things really are important. But I always have to stop and ask myself, "What is important to me? Not everybody else. Do I really want to be a novelist? Because if I do then this is pretty important and there's no shame in it."
ReplyDeleteSo I write.
Great post!
EXACTLY! I could not say it better. Hold onto your passions and dreams, you've got this! It's who you are. So glad I could help, Ashley!
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