Do I write on a daily basis? No, not unless blogging counts.
Am I writing queries and sending off work? No (and that might explain why I'm still waiting to be published).
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| photo by mrjoro |
Do I make writing a priority in my life? No. Watching television and reading and knitting have slurped up my summer. I could try and make the excuse that I don't have time to write, but I do. I do have time to write.
A few years ago a writing friend of mine moved to Austin. She is the type of writer who has x-ray vision; she can see right through a piece and discover what it needs in order to improve.
Since we would regularly bounce pieces back and forth during the polishing process, we began a short-lived, long-distance "contest" of sorts to keep our writing momentum going. The idea was one of us would come up with a word or phrase, and that word/phrase would have to appear in the story or poem.
It was short-lived, since only one or two stories resulted from the idea. We kind of let it fade after two rounds. However, the story I wrote that involved a swizzle stick wasn't half bad.
Writing about a predetermined object stretches you as a writer. Try it. Partner with a friend or two, and after one of you comes up with an object, begin writing... (And if anyone out there has some great object ideas---like swizzle stick----that could be used as a springboard for writing, send them my way.)
Sioux, you need to join in on some of the memes going around in blogland. One I particularly like is Microfiction Monday. You have to write a story about a picture and only use 140 characters, and as you probably know (although I didn't "get it" the first time)...140 characters is a lot less than 140 words!!
ReplyDeleteI sort of share this "I want to be a writer but I don't write" thing with you. However, I have a couple of excuses: as I was attempting to read this blg my four year old called for assistance from the bathroom two times and I found my 2 year old on top of the dining room table! ha! I do write when I can, and many times when I can I don't. Maybe you are putting too much pressure on yourself? I know when fun things start to feel like work I lose interest or... make up excuses. You have talent, I believe it will all work out the way it is supposed to for you. *also, I considered my blogs as part of my writing, errr... isn't this writing?
ReplyDeleteFor sure, blogging is wrting. I also think it's a way to flesh out some ideas about other projects. I have had the luxury of having this summer off (usually I'm working part-time in June and July) so my blogging---sometimes several times a day---will slow down to once a day or once every couple of days when school and work begins again (which is tomorrow--Yikes!). And believe me, I feel for you; carving out time to write with little ones around is incredibly difficult at times. My younger child is 22; my daughter is 30, so I have a granddaughter to fawn over, but when I get worn out, I get to go home or I get to send her home. You will blink once and they'll all be in school, you'll blink again and they'll be driving, you'll blink again and they'll be young adults. Enjoy this time, and enjoy the writing you get to do...
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