There's nothing better than a good writing day, one where the words flow without stutters or false starts.
On a good writing day being a novelist is the best job in the world. Pride flutters in my chest when I've not only met my wordcount but nailed a chunk of text that drives the story forward, or includes a sentence or image that I'm particularly proud of. Those highs are addictive, they're what I'm striving for on a daily basis.
Of course, words don't always come easily. There are times where I'm frozen in fear as I look at a blank page, terrified that the ideas in my head won't translate to the page, or when all creativity eludes me. Sometimes I'm tired after a day at work and staring at a screen is the last thing I feel like doing. Writing can be painful, exhausting and sometimes near impossible.
However, now I've been writing 'seriously' for a good few years I've come to accept that both good days and bad days are part of the process. Novels don't magically appear overnight. Writing is a verb, which by its very definition requires an element of doing, of proactivity. All you can do is keep turning up and turning up until it's done.
So if you're writing a novel and today hasn't gone as well as you hoped just remember (as a very successful writer once said), 'Tomorrow is another day.'
On a good writing day being a novelist is the best job in the world. Pride flutters in my chest when I've not only met my wordcount but nailed a chunk of text that drives the story forward, or includes a sentence or image that I'm particularly proud of. Those highs are addictive, they're what I'm striving for on a daily basis.
Of course, words don't always come easily. There are times where I'm frozen in fear as I look at a blank page, terrified that the ideas in my head won't translate to the page, or when all creativity eludes me. Sometimes I'm tired after a day at work and staring at a screen is the last thing I feel like doing. Writing can be painful, exhausting and sometimes near impossible.
However, now I've been writing 'seriously' for a good few years I've come to accept that both good days and bad days are part of the process. Novels don't magically appear overnight. Writing is a verb, which by its very definition requires an element of doing, of proactivity. All you can do is keep turning up and turning up until it's done.
So if you're writing a novel and today hasn't gone as well as you hoped just remember (as a very successful writer once said), 'Tomorrow is another day.'
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