Anyways, we dispense with the usual jocularity today, because I don't feel quite so jocular (beware, I may use archaic language, which in my world means language that was used during my high school days 1979-83), but slightly more verbose (beware, I may use improper grammar and/or spelling today, 'cause you know, it's my blog and I'll whine if I want to, whine if I want to. You'll whine too if it happened to you).
Anywho, today is Prince Spaghetti day, no, it's Prince Albert in a can, no, it's HUMP A CAMEL DAY, no, it's faster than a rolling O, stronger than silent E, able to leap a capital T in a single bound, it's a word, it's a plan, it's Letterman! Do do dooooooooo!
Seriously, the 1st Wednesday of every single blessed month on Mother (or Father if you swing that way) Nature's Big Blue Marble, is Insecure Writer's Support Group day. That very special day where we moan, groan, complain (all G rated of course) about our writing, or in my case, a complete lack thereof.
And there lies the rub, or the nub of my gist today: no writing.
As some of you may or may not know, I've been slowly (like tortoise slow) chipping away on my latest project, a complete rewrite of my first self-pubbed book. So far, I have three chapters written totaling 14,639 words. I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but long story seriously short, I write with pen and paper, then transcribe to my old XP. However, the last time I worked on it was July 19th.
The reason why I haven't done a lick of writing in roughly 2 1/2 weeks isn't because of procrastination, although there is a negligible amount being applied because it does time a bit of time when you're complete re-writing a previously published book. You know, how much do you keep, how much you chuck, how to do you break it up, etc., etc. It's because of work related stress/aggravation.
I am going through some serious stress/aggravation at work, which has wrecked untold carnage with my writing. I know it sounds overly dramatic, but up until recently, I've been able to tune out the garbage that is my job so that I can do some writing on the weekends. Now, the stress/aggravation has gotten to be so bad and so heavy that I have been unable to do any kind of writing save for what I produce for my blogs.
I'm kind of bummed about this, simply because writing has been for the most part, the one solid sanctuary for my sanity. We all need a way to recharge and decompress, and for me, writing has bee the one thing that has kept me from biting everyone's collective head off. That sanctuary has eluded me for the past 2 1/2 weeks and until I can get things straighten out at work, writing will be sporadic at best. However, humor will not. Be sporadic. Possibly acidic, but not sporadic.
At that, my friends, is my insecurity for the month. What's yours?
(c) 2015 by G.B. Miller. All Rights Reserved.
a lot of home stress for me that has been knocking my writing down. House repairs, Lana's surgery. It's so hard to maintain consistency.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain my friend, and for me consistency is like natural peanut butter that's been sitting on the shelf for five months unused.
DeleteSounds like you need some time away from your soul-sucking job!
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to hit that wall again and if I don't find a way to string a few days off again, I'm gonna crash and burn big time.
DeleteHonestly, what I need is a new job, even if it pays slightly less than what I'm earning now. Happiness is doing what you like. I like what I'm doing, but I'm certainly not happy about it.
I often write with pen and paper and have to type everything up later. I like doing that because I can fix things and add more as I type.
ReplyDeleteProcrastination is a tricky little monster. When procrastination hits me, I let myself dally for a short time and then kick my butt back into gear.
I'm sorry about your stress at work. I hope things get better. And I hope you can get more rewriting done this month. :)
IWSG co-host Write with Fey
I write with pen and paper because of genetics. I transcribe using voice software, but I definitely agree with you about being able to tweak as you go along. I tweak a lot, sometimes because I can't read what I wrote, and sometimes because I can read what I wrote.
DeleteI've been fortunate that the procrastination has been negligible, but there are days where I wish that's the main cause of not writing, as opposed to the work stress.
Do I have to name just one insecurity per month? Ah, let me whittle down the list.
ReplyDeleteSorry work is still such a pain in the ass. Almost 15,000 words sounds like a hell of a lot to me!
Just one will suffice. :D
DeleteRight now, I'm projecting about triple what I got when I get to the end of this thing. I think originally it sits at roughly 25K+, but it needs so much work to bring it up to my exacting standards.
I don't think you're being dramatic. When I have a bad day at work, or hell even just have a fight with the wife, my writing output sucks. I've learned to just wait until it passes, rather than try to write through it and make myself feel even worse.
ReplyDeleteA drama queen I ain't, that's for sure. I also don't write when I'm really angry as my writing tends to get just a tad too extreme afterwards (got a partial slush novel about serial killers as proof).
ReplyDeleteOh G.B., I was reading your blog for inspiration before I settle in to write my blog post of the week... now what am I going to do? ;-)
ReplyDeleteWell now, I certainly you ultimately found your inspiration. :D
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