What Makes You Write?
I have two questions for you - What makes you write? And what makes you not able to write?
And it's only fair that I answer first.
What makes me write
This, for one.
-the story, being excited about it. I banged out the first 90 pages of my WIP in a little over a week. I'd wake up early, eager to get back to it. Still do, come to that .
-discipline. I may not be the most disciplined person on the planet, but I write every day, mostly. I may be in the chair for hours and come up with two pages because of email and message boards, but I do get those pages.
-seeing a good movie or reading a good book, not even about what my story is about, but it just fires off the synapses in my brain. A movie that does it for me every time is YaYa Sisterhood. My books are NOTHING like YaYa, but every time I see it, I get the urge to write.
-going to the museum. I was not much a fan of The Artist's Way, but she is right about artist dates.
What makes me not write (not the day to day distractors, but internally)
-exhaustion, obviously a big stumbling block during the school year
- creative drain, like when I'm problem solving for school, coming up with a PTA program, getting ready for graduation. Oddly, writing newsletter articles and blogging doesn't have the same effect.
-fear. Fear this day won't be as good as yesterday. Fear that this book won't be as good. Fear that damn it, no matter HOW long I try or how hard I work, there is no guarantee I'll be published. Just makes ya want to sit on the couch, watch DVDs and eat chocolate, ya know?
Anything else I forgot?
Goodreads
Good Reads
About Me
- MJFredrick
- I'm a mom, a wife, a teacher and a writer. I have five cats and a dog to keep me company. I love bookstores and libraries and Netflix - movies are my greatest weakness.
Beneath the Surface
Breaking Daylight
Breaking Daylight Review
Where There's Smoke
Where There's Smoke Review
Bull by the Horns
Hot Shot Reviews
Hot Shot
11 comments:
Mary! My god, we must be long lost twins.....LOL
What makes me write?
It's the one thing I feel i'm good at and it gives me a natural high.
What makes me not able to write?
Fear that I have no idea what I'm doing or why.
I get so high when I write too! It's exhilirating to put the stories in your head onto paper and breathe life into your characters. There is truly no feeling like it.
Stacy, yes, yes, yes!!!! On all points!
LOL, Dixie!
Romance, I hear you. To me, though, one of the hard things about being a writer is that I used to be good at whatever I'd do. With writing I've had a much lonnnnnger learning curve.
Ah, so Kendra, you're into the POWER of writing ;) Yeah, I know what you mean. And knowing that no one else can do it quite like you.....
I came home to some bad news - Susan Litman rejected Beneath the Surface. That book nearly did me in, and now it has to go back under the bed. Sigh. She did ask to see something new, which I'm writing as fast as I can.
I think we're about to get a thunderstorm, which will test the strength of the work the roofers did yesterday.....
Mar. BUMMER on BTS. But it doesn't have to go under the bed and stay there. I'm proof of that...
What makes me want to write? The joy and thrill of living inside my characters. What pulls me away from writing? Basically, fear. Fear of not really being any good, fear that I don't have that many good stories in me (a fear actually exacerbated by selling...now I wonder if I can create something else for the publisher that will be as good as my last one?). Then, it's just simple mental exhaustion, which I am battling big time right now.
BUT...when I write, I feel renewed. I feel like my truest self. And as much water is put back INTO my well as I drew from it in order to create.
We're writers...it's what we do. Even when it's scary.
JoAnn
Thanks, JoAnn. But like you said, BTS doesn't have the paranormal elements yours does, so I don't have the option you do.
My truest self. Hmm. I like that.
((((Mary))))
Thanks, Bonnie. It's making it really hard to get in my pages tonight.
Want to write: seeing the story evolve and the characters come to life. My CPs. My daughter who's grown up watching Mom get rejected and still go back to the computer to try again.
When someone from e-Harlequin sells.
Not: Long work weeks. That's new. Until last year long work weeks inspired me to write more.
Too many good books on my TBR pile.
teacher evaluation weeks.
Rejections.
hugs on yours. But I have the utmost faith that you've got what it takes. you're going to have that party board, I just know it.
Thanks, Mary Beth!! Yes, being an inspiration to my son is one of my reasons to keep going, too. And those party boards on eHQ!
And that TBR stack can be mighty tempting...
Nikki, yep, yep, yep! That's the best way to get inspired. I HAVE to write a story with Sawyer...OMG.
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