Lately I've been bemoaning my lack of time. With work and school sucking down minutes and hours like a hungry hamster, it seems like the day is over before I can manage to type a word. Even on the days where I manage to find an hour or two, I feel like my brain will explode if I don't veg out in front of Frazier on Netflix, or catch up on that MMO I've been playing.
Thing is, I'm looking at it all wrong. Writing is hard, but it isn't work. At least it shouldn't be. I've personally found a lot of pleasure and pride in the things I've written (crazy, but true), so why do I treat it like a chore? I think the answer lies in my organization of priorities. I've chosen to put TV and MMOs in a place of importance when it comes to relaxation, when really, I should be developing writing into my main source of enjoyment. And here's the thing, writing is totally fun. It really is. But sometimes our brains have to be taught that fact. Even us bookish types have been indoctrinated all our lives that the definition of recreation is watching the tube or playing video games. On a related note. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim comes out tomorrow, and I won't be purchasing it. Why? Well, the $60 price tag is part of it, but mainly, it's because I want to remove that lazy temptation to fall back to video games from my life. If I'm bored or stressed, I should go write, and if that means radically changing my way of thinking about it, then so be it.
Writing can be fun, and it should be. No one, and I mean no one, should be writing novels or stories because they think it's a smart career choice. What about you? What things are you letting get in the way of writing?
I think it depends. If you want to make writing your career, then yes, it's your job. And you should look at it as your job. And you should be thankful that your job is to sit in a room and make stuff up. Writing is fun, but if you want to make money out of it that doesn't make it any less your job.
ReplyDeleteI can sympathize about needing to set your priorities though. I recently blogged about my decision to give up my somewhat prominent place in the community of The Lord of the Rings Online to devote more time to writing. I've gotten more writing done since then than I had in months. So it was a good decision, but difficult.