Sunday 6 January 2019

Nerd Church - The Writer Diaries: I Need To Be More Patient With My Writing




I've recently started re-writing a story/novella/novel* that I started writing when I was a teenager... about a decade ago.

And I want it to be finished.

But I know that there's a butt-tonne of work to do to it (I'm basically re-writing the whole thing and making it less... melodramatic...  as well as changing the focus a bit.)



dude writing on table, scattered with other items like breakfast, coffee cup, etc.


*It's been the length of all of these at one time or another 🙈




I'm not a patient person.

I want things done, and I want things done yesterday.

But I'm also really cr*p at organisation, and definitely hare-brained. This is not the same as being patient, but tends to result in things being done in a similar (or later) time-frame 😅

That doesn't change the fact that, at heart, I'm an impatient little so-and-so.




I'm not work-shy.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am more than willing to put in enough (in fact, probably too much,) work.




I just... have so much to put into this story.

Writer friends will understand when I say that this is The One That Won't Leave You Alone.

Even when I put it on hold - sometimes for literally years - I somehow always keep coming back to it.

And I'm so eager to get all of the things that I want to put from my head onto the page, and get them down the way that I want them to be, that I get really frustrated that IT WON'T GET OUTTA MY HEAD FAST ENOUGH!




And then I get more frustrated, because it's not the way I want it to be yet, and overwhelmed, because there's still too much to do.

I'm trying to listen to my own advice though - it's a marathon, not a sprint, and it doesn't matter if it's cr*p, because I don't have to show anyone until I'm happy with it.

I can abandon the whole thing, and it won't matter (I can't abandon the whole thing - it won't let me - but that's a different issue.)




I've gotta keep reminding myself that going slowly is ok, and it'll be ready when it's ready - if it's ever ready.

And if it's not ever ready? That's ok.

It doesn't have to be - I'm not under contract. I don't have a deadline. I haven't sold it to anyone.

And nothing's stopping me from working on other stuff (for example, this blogpost!) while I'm working on it.

The one thing I can't do, though, is stop writing altogether. I have to write! It's like breathing or whatever 😅















Do you get frustrated when things - (it doesn't have to be writing) - aren't going as quickly as you'd like them to?
Fellow writers: do you have that one project which won't let go of you?
Talk to me! 😘💬







You can follow me on Twitter @CeeDoraReads, on Dora Reads @ BlogLovin, and on Google+. For more ways to support me, check out the Support Me page





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Last updated: 14th Jan 2019

11 comments:

  1. I can relate to so much of this! Like you, I often just want things to be done straight away. The novel I'm working on has developed into this elaborate 4-book series in my head and I get so frustrated sometimes that I can't get it all out on paper and see my vision complete already. But I know that slow and steady wins the race so I will just keep plodding on at it. Start at the beginning, keep going until you reach the end, then stop." That's my plan.

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    1. Ha, now if only we could get the plan to move more quickly ;)

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  2. I definitely agree with you, Cee! I will leave projects for years before I go back to them. Sometimes I will have an elaborate story in my head, but once I start writing it just seems like a chore. Patience is definitely a virtue!

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    1. If only we could put things on the page more easily! But then, I guess everyone would be doing it! ;)

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  3. I can absolutely sympathize!! somethings I am patient with, because i view them as a journey not a destination, but so many other things, i want them done yesterday. I guess i should try to view everything as a journey instead of a destination, that I will get there when I get there, and to just enjoy the experience.

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    1. Ha, if you have any luck with doing that, share your secrets with the rest of us! ;)

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  4. Irritatingly, there are no shortcuts to patience! ;) (Damn you poetic justice!) And thank you so much! That's so sweet! :) <3

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  5. Yes, I also tend to be very impatient with my creative pursuits. I guess it's because we just feel so passionately about these things that we want them to be perfect, and we want to share them with the world already, but we can't do that until they're ready! Good luck with your story :-)

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  6. I am very much more of a poet than a novelist, and it can be so frustrating to be working on the same project for a really long time. I've been working on my novel for quite a few years so I relate! But when there are a lot of emotions and ideas that need to go into it, sometimes writing it with the love and time it needs is best. You can do it <3

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