"There’s no such thing as writer’s block. That was invented by people in California who couldn’t write." — Terry Pratchett
I really have been struggling to sit down and write.
It’s not that I don’t have anything to say, it’s just hard to motivate myself. I need a deadline. Something to work toward.
In my last blog post, I said it was easier to get up to go to work than to write. I beat myself up a bit in that blog, but one week later, I am not feeling like I want to beat myself up.
Writing is hard. Well, that’s not entirely true. writing is easy. There are so many things to write about. Inspiration is everywhere. Stories are everywhere. It’s the reason I appreciate the quote by Terry Pratchett, also known as Sir Terence David John Pratchett OBE, an English humorist. The man is apparently best known for the Discworld Series, which includes some 41 novels.
And if you’ll allow me to digress, this is the reason why most writers are not rich and famous! Who has even heard of Terry Pratchett? And, in Canada, we have another “famous” humorist named Terry that most people haven’t heard of – Terry Fallis.
Like I said, the writing is easy, the process is hard. I.e. editing
As I am writing crap, I know that I will have to edit it, and I know, beyond any doubt, that the editing is going to be painful!
The truth is, I have a hard time letting go. I’ve mentioned this before, but I have a hard time being vulnerable in my writing. I can lie to you, dearest strangers, who don’t know me and say, “Oh, that’s just some stuff I made up in my head,” but people who know me, see me in my writing.
It’s the age-old fear of being known, and in being known, being rejected. Not good enough. Ernest Hemingway said, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
Aye, and there’s the rub, as my good friend, Will Shakespeare once said.
I guess the only thing to do is to sit down and write. Truthfully, with vulnerability. Just bleed. in Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott said to “write like your parents are dead”. (I’m kind of afraid if I do this, it will kill them!)
I mean the chances of more than a handful of people reading it are pretty slim anyway, right? 😊
Until next time,
Ellie