A New Year

“Writing is what I love to do. It can be maddening, frustrating, and the genesis for all sorts of unhealthy behavior (as well as grand plots of procrastination), but I cherish all elements of it. A part of your brain is permanently moored in the storytelling harbor. It affects how you view the world and indeed how you experience everything in that world. It demands complete devotion.” - David Baldacci

I started this blog one year ago. This is my twenty-fifth post. Feels good. I’d like to think that I’ve learned a few things. 

I’ve learned that it’s good to have some kind of schedule even if you can’t always stick to it. My plan was to post at least twice a month. That’s been a challenge. Having a schedule gets me writing regularly though. I think I’ve written more in the last year than I have in the last ten years.

I’m more confident. I can get my jumbled thoughts down without as much hesitation as before. I can write a mess of stuff and be okay with it. I know that I’ll get back to it later and edit the heck out of it. I’ll mold it into something that makes more sense than it did when it first poured out of my brain.

I’ve often read that writers feel stress when they don’t write. I’ve been interested in writing for a long time but I never felt any stress when away from the keyboard. Didn’t bother me at all. Didn’t get much done either. 

I’m at the point now where I get antsy if I haven’t written in awhile. What changed? 

Starting this blog helped me turn my interest in writing into a habit of writing. I look forward to getting my thoughts down. I look forward to making sense of what I’ve written down. I find joy in discovering new things as I’m getting the words out. Not just in my blog posts, but also in the fiction that I’m working on.

My goal this year is to finish things. Finish the writing course that I started last year. Finish short stories. 

We learn by doing. 

Next: My Struggles With Creating: The High School Years