Writing is what I do for a living, but this essay has finally made me feel OK about my process! It’s OK to be messy, to not know exactly what your thesis is till you’ve explored your material for a while. Thank you!
Kids, it doesn’t get any easier over time. I have been doing this for decades, and it’s still hard AF. Well, maybe a bit easier.
Feeling the first question! I write daily like an alarm clock, but I don’t pitch to magazines or do sales or marketing on my books/essays. I just share them on Substack and Amazon and that’s about it.
Yet every now and then some other writer will try and nudge-shame me into improving some aspect of my book marketing and I have to explain to them that I have two other jobs and a special needs child. Writing is my fun escape! Not my income/duty/job.
These Q & R are so helpful! I especially found your response about organizing your books very useful. Now I feel better about all the folders of writings that are supposedly part of the same book.
I’ve made my living as a writer for 40 years and I still don’t like writing. I wish SO much that I could get on the groove, experience flow state … or just have it be easy FFS. It never has been—probably because, as you so perfectly describe—I’m always at war with my ADD when I sit down to write and it has a vastly different agenda.
But I love having written, love reading something I’ve done and saying, “Ya know, that doesn’t suck too bad.” Or occasionally, “Wow! *I* wrote that?”
I really think it’s the expectation that I ought to love the process that creates the most misery. For me? It’s hard and it’s never not hard, but it’s always worth having done.
Thanks for sharing the question.
Also, I love seeing your various makeup expressions. Playful and gorgeous, they brighten my day.
Really enjoyed learning about how your write/organize your work. And I totally get the "you should (fill in the blank of hobby you love)": I love to cook, and I get that kind of comment sometimes from people. Why in the world would I ruin something I love to do for pleasure?! Part of the reason I like to cook is that I can make or bake whatever the hell I want :)
Writing is what I do for a living, but this essay has finally made me feel OK about my process! It’s OK to be messy, to not know exactly what your thesis is till you’ve explored your material for a while. Thank you!
Kids, it doesn’t get any easier over time. I have been doing this for decades, and it’s still hard AF. Well, maybe a bit easier.
Feeling the first question! I write daily like an alarm clock, but I don’t pitch to magazines or do sales or marketing on my books/essays. I just share them on Substack and Amazon and that’s about it.
Yet every now and then some other writer will try and nudge-shame me into improving some aspect of my book marketing and I have to explain to them that I have two other jobs and a special needs child. Writing is my fun escape! Not my income/duty/job.
These Q & R are so helpful! I especially found your response about organizing your books very useful. Now I feel better about all the folders of writings that are supposedly part of the same book.
I’ve made my living as a writer for 40 years and I still don’t like writing. I wish SO much that I could get on the groove, experience flow state … or just have it be easy FFS. It never has been—probably because, as you so perfectly describe—I’m always at war with my ADD when I sit down to write and it has a vastly different agenda.
But I love having written, love reading something I’ve done and saying, “Ya know, that doesn’t suck too bad.” Or occasionally, “Wow! *I* wrote that?”
I really think it’s the expectation that I ought to love the process that creates the most misery. For me? It’s hard and it’s never not hard, but it’s always worth having done.
Thanks for sharing the question.
Also, I love seeing your various makeup expressions. Playful and gorgeous, they brighten my day.
Really enjoyed learning about how your write/organize your work. And I totally get the "you should (fill in the blank of hobby you love)": I love to cook, and I get that kind of comment sometimes from people. Why in the world would I ruin something I love to do for pleasure?! Part of the reason I like to cook is that I can make or bake whatever the hell I want :)