We all know that writing is easy, “All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed” according to Ernest Hemingway. And that is true to a point. But it isn’t the whole truth. Writing is easy and hard, but it’s also exciting, creative, playful, and relaxing. It feeds the soul and can be magical.
Writing is having the ability to create lands and people from nothing. At least it is when you’re not driving yourself mad because you’ve written yourself into a corner, or have a character who won’t listen, or clients who cause all levels of frustration.
Like all things in life, writing has its ups and downs. There are days when I question my career choice and grab the want ads to look for companies that need waitresses or bookshop clerks. There are days when I swear I will never take on another client, but those are days stuck in between others spent looking for new ones. But no matter how many hard days there are, there are also days when I write a sentence that sounds exactly like it did in my head. Days when I come up with a new idea followed by that surge of excitement that comes along for the ride. There are nights I wake from a dream only to rush for my laptop so I can capture part of a story.
Being a writer is being alive. It’s paying attention to the world and its people. Not joining in necessarily but not hiding either. It’s about observing and taking note of what passes. It’s tapping into that inner child that lives just outside the conscious mind. It’s fun and liberating and indulgent.
It’s also hard work, filled with discipline, logic, risks and potential ruin. It is not for the weak. If you want to run a freelance business, be prepared for chaos. If you want to write books, be braced for self-doubt that will throw down in equal measure with confidence and bravado.
The funny thing is that to make it as a writer means you need to be logical, rational, business-minded as well as imaginative, free and uninhibited. It’s a weird dichotomy that does not always sit easily in the mind or body. But there is a way around it and it requires a split. You have to consciously put your editor/critic aside to make room for the imaginative writer to thrive. Then when it’s time to be analytical and business-oriented, you need to dampen the creative side. The best analogy is embracing the child when you write and the adult whenever anything else is required. I like to think of it as playtime versus work. Writing is fun. Finances are not.
The way I break through obstacles for each side, oddly enough, matches that analogy. When I am struggling to write, I go play. I swing in the park. Take a walk. Play with the cat. Do something indulgent or frivolous to get back into the writing mindset. When I need to force myself to do taxes or invoice clients or tackle a boring job, I meditate, use the Pomodoro method to break work into twenty minute chunks, and use every trick I have to get the work done. No excuses. Sometimes play helps. Sometimes discipline. Though I do limit my playtime so I don’t miss deadlines or skip items on my daily must do list.
What do you do to encourage your two sides? Or do you see it differently?