I made an elementary writing mistake these past two months, one that many writers make from time to time. I was entirely drained after work (December and January are horribly demanding) and I didn’t feel inspired to write, so I didn’t. This lull led to suffocating self-doubt and a thousand questions.
I started to question my art and ability to write.
Then the questions left and a certainty filled me.
I am not good.
I cannot do this.
It’s over.
The absurd thing about all of this was that I doubted something I no longer practiced.
I’m an avid hockey fan and I know that when a player suffers a leg fracture or broken foot it can take months to get back to “game speed”. They’ve been off for a bit and need to undergo proper conditioning to attain “game speed” once again. In other words, they have to put in the work to get to a place where skating and playing the game feels natural.
Conditioning is the key word there. It means to break in. Ever run a 5K on a new pair of shoes? Ouch.
This is where I am at now. Learning to walk again. Learning the writing drive again.
Now comes the hard part. Now comes the march onward to becoming an everydayer.
There were times in the past when I could not stop myself from writing. The thrill of it filled me enough that I cast sleep aside and was lost in what I was doing. About the time I finished this post I felt that again. A small flicker of it anyway. A spark. Now I need to figure out how to give it more fuel.
That is what becoming great at anything is. Before you can be great, you must put in the work.
Let’s roll up our sleeves today.
Cheers,
Bob
PART-TIME NOVEL 
I know what you mean. I allow life to interfere now and then and when I run out of time I don’t even try to write, thinking that I’d only waste my time or that I need more than the available time to write so I won’t even try. But that is wrong.
I have taken my productivity to the next level this year, both in terms of fiction writing and blogging. I’m taking my blog much more serious also. I’m writing every day now, even if it is just five minutes on my phone, or an hour when my little girl sleeps. I’ve realized that if I don’t write every day I will stagnate. My vocabulary will stagnate and it’ll take me longer to write quality sentences.
The thing is, I need to really work hard and I need to work every day in order to at least get to a level where I can write in a reasonably entertaining way. I can feel the impact this has when I write–it gets smoother, the words come quicker. But if I haven’t written in weeks or maybe even a month or so, I’m writing on legs made of jelly. It’s slow and cumbersome, and I take ages to find the right words.
Good luck!
Weolf, Truer words have never been typed. I have been writing with jelly legs and am invigorated by the obvious passion in the renewed dedication to your work. I appreciate the kick in the pants these words are to me and to the people who stopped by today.
I’ve been meaning to catch up with your posts and will spend some time working through your blog later this week.
Keep pressing onward!
On Mon, Feb 9, 2015 at 4:11 PM, Part-Time Novel wrote:
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Thanks for the vote of confidence and I’m happy you feel that way. Please, by all means, read at your leisure. My blog loves visitors. :-p