I Don't Want to Write

[jennifer_brozek]

Right now, I don't want to write. I don't want to edit. I don't want to do anything in my chosen field of work. Because it is work and it is hard. But, because it's my job, I will write.

Fortunately for me, the business of writing encompasses a lot more than ass-in-chair-and-fingers-on-keyboard. It includes emails, social networking, blogging and all kinds of other things that don't actually mean I need to work on the current work in progress.

However, I've noticed something: as I drop projects off my plate and shift into long term projects with much higher word counts, I have less things to turn to when I just don't want to write. That means I need to either be more creative about my procrastination or I need to stop whining and get to work. I suspect I will come to a happy medium between the two.

I have also discovered that on this long term web serial, I actually do my best writing late at night. I'm pretty sure this is because I get too tired to hear the doubts of my inner critic. Also because I'm allowing myself the luxury of 1000 words a day instead of 2000 while I work on edits for the novella and do research for unnamed projects.

Research is awesome for 'not-writing' moods. I need to do it anyway and it allows me to shift gears. This usually involves a lot of reading.

You know, it's clear I don't want to write. This blog post is all over the place. Time to go find something else to do. Tonight I'll focus. But for now I think my writing brain needs a small rest.

Comments

[fixnwrtr.livejournal.com]

I have times like these when I'm all over the place and writing is an actual chore. It's hard to get through them alone and friends and other writers just make it more difficult with support and understanding and even guilt. I've often found the need to walk away and I regret every lost moment, but I'd regret the substandard work a lot more.

You're not alone.