It's not that I'm "waiting for inspiration" or anything like that because if I only wrote when inspiration struck me then, honestly, I wouldn't write all that much. Because writing is hard. Like really hard sometimes.
Instead, life has kind of gotten in the way of writing for me lately. Amazing and great things have happened, so I'm definitely not complaining about that. But I have been distracted. I've shared on other internet outlets that I'm pregnant. The hubby and I are expecting our first baby in August, so we've both been busy preparing and all that. I've been exhausted from the pregnancy up until recently. I've gone out of town to visit family. Other family has come into to town to visit. Work is always there. So, yeah, lots of things have been keeping me busy.
And I've neglected my writing because of it. That's not to say I haven't done anything though. I worked up an outline of revision stuff for my agent and have started on them. I've added a chapter here and there to my current WiP, but nothing consistent and I'm discontent because of it.
In the moments of downtime and quiet, I'm bored or discontent. It's even effected my reading. I've been reading less, even when I have the time. I've just started picking up some MSs and books again lately. But in those moments of extra time that are rarer than ever for me right now, I don't immediately go to writing. I decide sleep is nice (b/c ppl love to tell me how I'll never sleep again after this little baby comes!), or I just want to relax and watch T.V. or something like that.
But I've come to realize that I'm one of those people that need to make a habit or writing if I want to make it a priority. I'll put if off because it's hard work, even though I love writing. Once I actually sit down, I remember how much I love writing and why I started and how wonderful it is to weave sentences together into a story all it's own. I love writing.
So why can't I remember that during the times when I take a week off? Because somehow during that week, I forget and one week turns into two into a month and so on of un-fulfilling and sporadic writing.
And this is why I need to make writing a habit. Always. That doesn't mean I can't take a vacation or anything, but I need to learn to make writing a habit again each time I take time off. And that's what I'm doing now. I'm making it a habit. I've set a new writing goal for myself and I plan on sticking to it. I'm working on writing, even a little bit, everyday now. I can't wait for when I'm not tired or distracted or for the mood to hit me. That's not how I work, b/c I'd never get anything done that way.
What about you? Is writing a habit for you? Do you fall out of the habit and push writing aside like I have? Or can you keep up with wanting to write even if it's sporadic?
Either way, I hope you all are having a great day and get to create lots of wonderful words today!
I have every intention of writing every day, but like you, life seems to be getting in the way. After working all day, I need some time to unwind. And then when I sit down to the computer, I find myself so wrapped up in the non-writing aspects of writing (reading and responding to blogs, returning critiques, writing blog posts of my own, sending out submissions) that by the time I finally get around to writing, I'm too tired and just want to get to bed.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I need to set myself a schedule, then keep reminding myself that I'm never going to reach my goals if I don't actually write anything.