Writing isn’t always enjoyable.
Some days it leans heavily toward masochism. Okay, right there’s a perfect example. I’ll spend the next twenty minutes fretting over whether I should use ‘toward’ (singular) or ‘towards’ (plural). I’ll check a couple dictionaries, google it, consult Grammar Girl and Woe is I, then change it from toward to towards to toward to towards to toward and back and forth and round and round. By then I’ll be dizzy and need a nap.
This concerns me. It isn’t normal behavior; it crosses the line into crazy. Am I a masochist, is that possible? I worry, you know? Back in the day, I hated doing this kind of stuff. We called it homework then and I avoided it like a dark alley. It led nowhere good. What troubles me now is that these aren’t assignments. Oh, no. I’m not being graded, I’m not being paid, I’m not at gunpoint. I’m doing this voluntarily. What’s wrong with me?
I can almost justify sitting and staring at a blinking cursor all winter long, but this is a lovely June morning. There’s no excuse. Yet, here I am. Crazier still, there you are. (Thank you, by the way.) Should I be seeking professional help? Probably, but not today. Today I’m going outside, I’m jumping on my bike and pedaling away.
I’ve no destination in mind, there’s no place I have to be; I am at loose ends. How exciting is that? Adventure awaits. If I’m really lucky my wanderings will lead to a little quiet bliss and a steaming cup of coffee, not the Emergency Room. Here’s hoping.
Thought for the day:
“I hate writing. I love having written.”
— Dorothy Parker
Copyright © 2014 Publikworks
the whirly girl 
17 responses to “: crazy talk :”
Writing is like riding a bike.
Even with a flat tire, you can still get somewhere.
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Once again, you’re spot on. How do you keep doing that?
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I read a lot of fortune cookies?
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That Dorothy Parker quote is priceless. I think we all feel the same way at times.
You are not alone in this over editing of oneself. I think it is all these little militant grammar police groups that have grown stronger in number. Now a simple type-o can have you sweating it out thinking they will label you illiterate and grammatically challenged. Here’s the thing. I find that some of the most successful writers (including published ones) have a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes in their work. I often read something and wonder how this ever made it through spellcheck, never mind an editor.
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I swear, you’re the most well-reasoned and rational person in the world. I wish I was half as logical, silk purse. Just half.
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There isn’t a person in my life that would believe someone said I was, “the most well-reasoned and rational person in the world”. I may have to print out this comment and frame it. ;-)
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There is now. Me. Print away, silk purse, and don’t forget to enlarge it.
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Before retiring, I had two editors who depended on me to supply them with a humor article each and every month. And from time to time I ran into the same writer’s block you are suffering. It’s not fun. I would read, and re-read and re-read a story just finished, or partially finished. And I would become my own worst critic. I would find grammical errors where there were no grammical errors. What was funny to me when I first put it to paper, now seemed like so much jibberish. It usually required me walking away from my keyboard for a day or two, but I somehow always seemed to get through it.
But now that I’m retired and only write a blog, I’ll walk away for as long as I damned well please, and couldn’t give a rip less when I come back.
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Hiya, Richard. I know that stage, the I-hate-everything stage. Mine’s lasted now, oh, twenty or twenty-five years. If I’d walked away I probably wouldn’t have come back : )
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Reblogged this on The Opaque Penguin and commented:
This goes along with how I feel as well. Give it a read!
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:0)
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What’s worse is re-reading what you’ve posted, when it’s too late to edit. That’s the real masochism. Yet I, personally, can’t help myself.
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Or should that be “Yet I personally can’t help myself,” no commas?
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Or should that be “rereading,” no dash?
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i feel bad that there is no “like comment” button here lol
(can i use “there” and “here” like that? – wondering)
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Sure, but keep in mind I don’t know what I’m talking about.
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The trick there is, don’t re-read. That’s just asking for trouble, Jo.
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