I finally did it. I started, completed and submitted a piece of writing.
This is a very big deal for me. It’s been far too long. No excuses.
“If the desire to write is not accompanied by actual writing, then the desire must be not to write.” Hugh Prather
Well, the desire was there but the actual doing had hit a major snag. And although I’ve previously mentioned suffering from writer’s block, there is really no such thing. If you consider yourself a writer, you sit your ass down at the computer and YOU WRITE.
Which I did. I was just never able to finish anything. And the more I fretted over this, the more frustrated I became and would just walk away from the precious few pages I had produced.
I was suffering from writer’s stall. The engine finally sputtered into drive.
It will be months before I hear whether the piece is accepted for publication and I’ve long since learned to live with the possibility of rejection. But this time, acceptance or rejection was not my ultimate goal (although an acceptance would be nice). Nor is the money (although that too would be nice). The goal was to create a beginning, middle and end – to complete something I am proud of.
Which I did. And when I hit that “Send” button I experienced such an enormous sense of satisfaction and relief.
(So, stop writing about what you did, Beth, and start doing it again…)
16 comments:
Congratulations! What a marvelous accomplishment...a beginning, a middle, and an end!
I love the quote, I guess I had better get serious about my desire and make it real. Congratulations.
I like that, "writer's stall"...applicable to so many aspects of our lives.
I'm glad that you have been able to move forward with this and now that you have "unstuck" yourself from your "stall" I know that you will continue to create and produce and promote. Brava!!
Congratulations.
I suffer from writer's fear. I sit down and write but have a fear that no one will want to read it. Or that people will judge it. For me it's like birthing a child. I become very protective of my stories. I need to learn to let them go.
deidra:
And life is always full of those three things!
cid:
Desire? Always good and always necessary. Just don't try to write with guilt and pressure - they are not good companions.
sherry lee:
It can also be referred to as "getting your a** in gear." ;)
gladys:
I highly recommend letting your "babies" go. A negative judgment or a rejection from one place doesn't mean your work isn't any good. I've had rejected work published elsewhere. Go for it!
That really is wonderful Beth. Glad your "writer' stall," is now in gear. I know what an amazing feeling that is.
Glad you are BACK! I'm very proud of you. If you need any new material...!? let me know.haha
cheryl:
Thanks. ;)
Just have to keep my foot on that accelerator now.
msb:
"Truth is stranger than fiction."
Our life stories would not be believed...
WoooHooooooo!!!!
What did you write? Another novel? Short story????
oreneta:
Another novel?? Ha! I wish. Lack the concentration for that sort of endeavour. It's a short short story. Which, knowing how wordy I can get, is quite the challenge for me!
Hey, yippee!!! Congrats!
It is a satisfying feeling once it's done, isn't it? Writer's block, writer's stall, whatever name you want to call it/not call it, we all suffer from it from time to time. I know when I am in the middle of writing a story I can hit a wall for a couple of days/a week or two because nothing will come - 'write it and it will come?' hardly!! - and then, I'll wake up one day and the germ of an idea, somehow, was planted during the sleeping hours of the night. I sit in front of my computer and voila! Where did that come from?!! Yeah, it's a big relief!
Congratulations again because writing never comes as quickly and easily as others may sometimes believe. It's work; and, in the end, good, satisfying work that leaves a smile on your face for a job well done.
Job well done =)
rebecca:
You "get" it.
And, yeah, there's a smile on my face. :)
Yippy!
congratulations.
:)
Hah! That is a great quote. Makes me feel bad about how long it has been since I wrote in my novel. I shall go get to it right now :)
Awesome! Congratulations. Sounds like you're in a good place. Hope you enjoyed your time at the cottage. This past weekend would have been perfect for it.
I'm like this with my book. I know it's such a large project that it will take years to finish (I'm planning to write the first half and submit that for publication first), but in the short term I'm very bad about keeping up.
I go through periods where I write every night, and then for about a month or so won't work on it at all.
This post reminded me that I need to keep going.
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