I've mentioned before that there was a period in my life (almost ten years) where I did absolutely NO writing and, quite frankly, it sucked. When I committed myself to making writing a part of my world again, I promised to do it as "often as I could." It was a flimsy promise. I found myself skipping writing days because I knew the work could be put off. At first I thought that sluggish writing was better than not writing at all but eventually, I came to realize that it wasn't satisfying enough. I owed it to myself to do better.
The promise changed a couple of years ago when I decided to expand my creative horizons. I promised myself to write Monday through Friday with weekends off and it worked well for me. The quality of my work changed because of it. One of my closest friends, RC, told me just last week that she could see a lot of development and growth in my writing.
The vow has changed again. I now write every day except for Sunday. I've become an advocate of writing and reading daily because it keeps my creative mind open. I don't always get to write 5,000 words or read lotsa chapters in whatever books are on my reading list or nightstand. Some days, the most I do is a quick journal entry about a dream or idea and reading is limited to catching up on a few friends' blogs but I am doing something every day.
I know that sometimes it's hard to fit everything into our hectic schedules but doing something you love is important so you've gotta make room for it. I'm glad that I've been able to commit myself to a creative life. It hasn't been easy but it's been worth it! It's helped me to learn more about myself and has trained my brain to work in bolder, broader strokes. It feels good to be creative every day!
Smiling,
~Valeka
I didn't write for a long time either, so I understand. Sometime in the mid-late 90s, I worked on a novel of epic proportions. Then we had a fire, and I lost everything. That event had me discouraged for a long time. It wasn't until about 2006 or so that I decided to write again. I don't think it was even a conscious decision that I wanted to make a career out of it. I just wanted to do it for fun as a creative outlet.
ReplyDeleteI can't say that I've promised myself to write every day or anything like that. I write on the days that I can, even if it's not much. I write more than I read! If anything, the reading is the thing I need to work on more sometimes.
And editing, which I've only recently begun to take seriously. I'll never be published (self-pubbed or otherwise) if I don't learn how to edit, right? ;)
So I say good for you! Commitment to creativity is important, and I'm glad you're doing it!
~L
Oh my goodness - a fire! That can be so devastating but I'm glad you were able to find your way back to creativity. Sometimes I think the Universe likes to throw little roadblocks in our way to see just how much we love something. Clearly, we both love our creative lives because we have found our way back to them! YAY!! :-)
DeleteWell said, this is very inspiring to read, thank you for sharing this, I will be thrilled to read more :))
ReplyDeleteHi there,Tammy, and welcome to my little blog! I'm so glad that you enjoyed my post. :-) Hope you come back and visit again :-)
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