Just a reminder

[alanajoli]

Thinking about writing isn't writing.

Talking about writing isn't writing.

Blogging about writing isn't even writing.

Doing research to prepare for writing still isn't writing.

Writing is writing.

This is something I needed to be reminded today. If writing is a priority, then you have to write. There's nothing else to it.

--

Note: I did a friend list purge today. If you feel you have been removed in error, please let me know! I got a little zealous toward the end. Also, hello new people! It was fun to see people adding me during the month that I wasn't blogging at all. Something about the stars aligning, I think.

Comments

[elven-wolf.livejournal.com]

Yay I'm still here!

And I'm totally there with you on the 'writing about writing is not writing'. It can get me through times of not writing due to work stress or time and whatnot, but it can only go so far.

Surprisingly, doing NaNo this year, for the first time ever, has helped me recapture that initial joy of writing.

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

Of course you're still here! I don't want to miss the big news when Legacy of Olympus gets picked up by a publisher. :)

Good luck on NaNo! I think I'm glad I'm not doing it this year--and in fact, I think I'm going to drop out of JoNoWriMo tonight also after I post to that community, explaining why. I've really been looking for external motivators, and I think I need to make an internal change for me to actually get back to my writing zone rather than depending on others. We'll see, though. I may yet stick it out and get back to that community. There's good people there.

[pmoc.livejournal.com]

I've written the first sentence to at least ten different stories. They are all excellent. By the time I am old and crinkly, I may even get the second sentences done.

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

You do write good sentences, as I recall. You even string them together quite well. :)

I was just thinking about our old creative writing classes the other day, and about how much easier it was to consistently turn in work when I had to read it aloud to a group. That said, I can't remember a lot of pieces I actually worked on consistently (or would edit to work on again) that I produced during those years, so maybe that's a factor I should keep in mind.

[jeff-duntemann.livejournal.com]

All of that is true, of course, and one reason I don't write as often on Contra as I used to is that I am writing other (sometimes slow and difficult) things. But the point I want to make is that all of those things are also necessary. Writing requires thinking--and sometimes, as with the sorts of things I write, higher math. Talking about writing can sometimes help you get to the heart of difficult problems. Describing a problem to someone else, even if there isn't any "someone else" listening at the time, often flushes a solution out of the bushes and into the open, for refinement if not immediate implementation.

It would have been difficult to write as much as I did in high school and college if I didn't have loyal friends who read my nonsense, challenged me, told me what parts were good, and when it was all over, demanded that I do more. Writing is a balance between solitary vice and social virtue. Striking that balance is the great challenge of being an effective writer.

Finally, thanks for keeping me on as a friend. I will do my best to keep you on the path without getting in the way.

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

You are absolutely right--all (or at least most) of those elements are required. But I've been doing a lot of those other things, and not enough of the actual writing, and I'm realizing how damaging that's actually been to my spirit. So, it's time to readjust--and strike that balance.

I had a long conversation with my former academic advisor yesterday about my need for not just writing, but for writing and audience, and how I've been using blogging effectively as a salve--or an instant gratification version of that. It was a pretty powerful conversation, and it made me really reconsider the way I've been treating my priorities in the writing sphere. Hopefully, I'll stay inspired. But I figured I'd just blog the short version of the results. I may actually send you an e-mail about the whole thing, because I think you'd probably understand better than most the paths the conversation trod--if you're interested!

And finally, I've been reading Contra longer than it's been on lj, so of *course* I'm keeping you on my list. It's been delightful being in touch with you more regularly since you mirrored over here. I always appreciate your words of advice--they've helped me back on the path more times than you probably realize. So... thanks for that!

[bccreations.livejournal.com]

Woo hoo, I survived!

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

We ex-Kalamarans have to stick together. :)

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

I just got overwhelmed with it this time around coming back--and when I realized that I didn't actually know who several of the people were, I decided it was time for a little trimming.

[publius513.livejournal.com]

I hear ya. I've been thinking about writing for 2 weeks now. Still haven't actually started. Talked about it, thought about it, planned on it...

*sigh*

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

What have you been thinking about writing? (Not, of course, that telling me is the same as writing, but I'm totally curious.)

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

Oh, Jeff is absolutely right. It's not that I don't value other parts of the process (to use a double negative). I think there's a lot to be said for pre-writing, discussing, and basically working through what you're writing about. So even for us seasoned writers who do get a lot of writing down on paper... if we get out of the habit (or "practice" of it, as my mentor Mark called it yesterday), sometimes it's easy to get embroiled in those other things, thinking they're the same as writing.

Or, at least, such is true for me.

(And yes, you made sense. *g*)