Tomorrow I will probably break down and do a draft recap (yes, I know tomorrow is not Wednesday). Tonight I want to talk about the love of writing. I spent a few minutes of my day yesterday listening to an afterword by Craig Alanson. If you don’t know him that is no surprise. He publishes exclusively through Amazon and does very well–especially in the audiobooks. Alanson talked about how he was able to eventually turn writing into a full time pursuit and I thought to myself, ‘yeah, I want that.’ I don’t want it to be famous. I want it because I really enjoy telling stories. I’ve gotten too wrapped up in the pursuit of success and everyone else’s measure of success in writing and have largely lost site over time of what I am in the game for.
To prove people wrong.
No, that is largely why I got into the game, but I was really there to put out some stories that made me feel good about writing them. Those are fewer and farther between these days, but they once again are getting to be the base of what I want and do with the word. I love writing. That is the bottom line. When I struggle to reach my 1000 words, it is usually because I am focused on writing something I am struggling with and am not as excited about completing. Old me would just straight quit, but now me wants to fight through and find the love in every part of the craft.
I also think a lot of that struggle comes from how much time I spend planning and laying out things as opposed to just writing scenes. It comes out in my outlines–you’ll see me fall into a scene, writing it as it happens though I am still technically writing the outline. I guess I’ve never been completely comfortable with just outlining. I guess I really just want to tell good stories about people who go through things and come out different on the other side.
Alanson gets that. There are other authors–many others–who get that as well, and I feel like I would be well served to make listening to them speak on writing as a part of my daily ritual. Writing is a state of mind. Writing is the delicate lattice of ideas made visual that can be so quickly ruined by the harsh grind of life and indelicate people. As my partner occasionally reminds me, I need better people.
I’d argue I just need more time with the words.