Getting back on the horse and choosing to write.

Writing’s hard. (Pause for applause from Captain Obvious.)

And it’s difficult in multiple ways. It’s not easy to string together an entire narrative that can fill up 200+ pages. It’s tough to edit ad nauseum, not only looking for holes in your story but also for holes in your grammar. It’s no picnic to have something you’ve crafted over months and years released out to the general public just so most people can say, “Meh.” That said, I think the most difficult part (and I think other writers would agree with me) is actually having the discipline to set aside the time to write.

I should see if there’s a writer’s poll online where people voted on the hardest part of writing.

(Pause for online search.)

Okay, I didn’t find a poll but I did find a lot of authors who agreed with me. And also, a lot of authors who didn’t. Thanks for nothing, internet.

I didn’t mean that! Please don’t ever disappear, internet.

Revised opinion: Okay, for me, right now, the hardest part of writing is having the discipline to set aside time to do it. Note that I didn’t say having the discipline to write, but having the discipline to carve out part of my day to write. Once I’ve got the time set aside, I write. I don’t play games on my phone, or read books on my kindle, or (for the most part) look at stuff online, (recent poll search excluded). When it’s writing time, I write.

Getting the time to write set aside is a whole ‘nother problem. For part-time writers like me, choosing to use part of my day to write means I’m actively choosing not to do something else. And in the last almost six months, I’ve been choosing to do things other than write. The hard part for me is knowing what I’m doing is important, sometimes significantly more important than writing. Looking for a new job, spending time with family, cleaning the house, exercising, etc. If I just had to choose between writing and binge-watching Hulu while eating Ben and Jerry’s, I’m confident enough I’d choose to write 9/10 times.

8/10 for sure.     

I guess what I’m saying is, for me, making writing time sacred is the only way to make sure I sit down and write, but by the same token, family actually is sacred, and my job that provides for my family kind of pulls that into the sacred realm as well. Cleaning is a no-brainer and exercising helps keep me healthy and sane.

What’s my point?

Writing is hard. Finding time to do it is harder. I’ve read enough blogs by other authors to know carving out time to write amidst the competing pressures of work and family, and life, is a major theme. Finding an hour block of dead time in your day can be almost impossible.

That’s not really my point.

My actual point is you have to love writing enough that you’re willing to give up another enjoyable part of your life to do it.

I think that’s why so many books never get written, it’s a hard trade off to make.

Right now, I’m committing to writing again. I’m committing to finishing the 1st draft of my current novel, editing it, and publishing it. And afterwards, well, then I’ll decide if I love writing enough to go through the whole process again on another novel.

I already have a couple of ideas.