Cavern of Inane Natter · Legacy archive
Today, writing feels like...
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Today, writing feels like...
#1Being barefoot with lead weights chained to my ankles while I try to drag them across a floor littered with broken glass.
Less than a week ago it felt like my fingertips were charged with electricity and every keystroke was a joy that lightened the spirit while whole worlds were drawn from the void and onto the screen.
What about you? -
Re: Today, writing feels like...
#2I'm in a similar mood, actually. I feel as if my muse has taken a vacation, for I know she will be back, but without her I am too scattered and acting on old ideas. I've decided to write a few things that have been in my head for a while and possibly finish them later. I don't know why today would be any different for writers but I'm feeling it, too.
Good luck. -
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#3My time is sucked away from me. I have had one idea for over a month and came up with a Quest idea that I just haven't had time to sit down and do. Have another quest idea I got on the bus. Now just need some hours that I can sit and write! -
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#4Driving large stone spikes into my head, while listening to muzak -
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#5Today, writing feels like...
One more task in an overly long list of over due things on my agenda, that if forcused on right now will turn out sub-par at best sadly. :down: -
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#6Tyler Durden is sitting on my shoulder, telling me to stop wasting my time and go destroy something -
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#7Trying to herd a clutter of ADD cats through a room full of catnip and lasers. -
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#8Have so much piled on the to do list that I am a deer in the headlights to get anything down or anything accomplished. Wish I only had a single passion/hobby. I need/want to do so much that I don't end up doing anything sometimes...time wasted. -
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#9the sound that comes from the machine when the bearings go out, a sort of horrid grinding sound. -
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#10pulling the bucket out of a deep, dark well, and finding it empty. -
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#1121 hours from the close of the quest and all I write reads like jagged, broken glass. Two pretty good ideas still lost for now... -
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#12Re: Today, writing feels like...
A vast expanse of infinite possibilities where by an accidental phrase is turning into the foundation for an entire sci-fi campaign. (and another memorable sub when finished) :up:
We were the victims, we were the culprits, we were the children who cried out at night.
We are the hunted, and we do the hurting, we are the children who cry out at night. -
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#13a terrible pressure on the right side of my head, around my ear, like the feeling of an ocean being held back.
Oh. Wait.
My sinus infection seems to have migrated to my right ear. -
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#14Like I am slowly going insane, giggling the whole way. :what: -
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#15Another day another dollar, creative writing loses its luster when it becomes an occupation; far better to enjoy it as a hobby then do it for a living. -
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#16Like looking at a thousand shattered shards of glass scattered over hot desert sands, trying to figure out how to piece them together while the bright sun reflects painfully from above.
Then I say, "fuck it," and go back to reading GNU info pages.
Right now I can read through and understand a 200 page manual on GNU Make but looking at a game book makes my head spin. :?
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#17Like trying to juggle 1000 ball bearings next to an MRI -
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#18like standing knee deep in mud and mosquitoes and fetid swamp air while someone is shouting at me to run -
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#19Like pushing on a heavy door with rusting hinges. I've opened it to a small crack and I can see inside, but I can't quite make it through just yet. Soon, perhaps. And then the wider world will quiet down to a tiny, squeaky voice, and I can renew my acquaintance with old ideas. -
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#20Extremely frustrating. I have about ten different ideas for what to write, including multiple unfinished Freetext Fridays, but I'm overdrawn from my Brainpower, Inc. checking account. All I've got are little fluff bits, nothing extra to finish off my main ideas in a satisfactory fashion. -
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#21like trying to do something whilst sitting in a monastery dedicated to the Great God Mathom and full of His Priests. -
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#22What I hate is getting those insanely awesome sparks of inspiration. The ones where you can't wait to put down on paper or ideas that you can't wait to act on but they get delayed or sidetracked and you lose the spark you had for it. You are able to think about it and the thought is still there but the motivation and energy is gone. -
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#23^ This. -
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#24.... an endless staircase going nowhere. -
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#25A major mining operation where tons of ore are moved for a few ounces of precious metal -
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#26Today, writing feels like...
A labor of love whose flame of passion is in need of rekindling. A battle against wind, snow, and the elements, that only yields the bittersweet reward of staving off the guilt for another day. Having a gnawing desire to create something beautiful and profound, yet finding yourself lacking a key material. -
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#27Something pointless -
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#28a welcome distraction from work and reality. -
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#29Excitement about goals is often diminished by our fear of failure or the drudgery of work.
If you’re short on passion, it might be because your goals are too small or the fear is too big.
Do a job for a long time and achieve what you set out to achieve, and suddenly, the dream job becomes a trudge instead. The job hasn't changed--your dreams have.
Mostly, though, it's about our fear. Fear is the dream killer, the silent voice that pushes us to lose our passion in a vain attempt to seek safety.
While you can work hard to dream smaller dreams, I think it's better to embrace the fear and find bigger goals instead.
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/02/passion.html (good email list to be on, insightful and short) -
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#30Today, writing feels like a frivolity that I don't have time for (ironic, as I sit doing nothing a the computer)
Today, writing also feels like a pointless exercise, because I sometimes think that no one is reading what I am writing. -
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#31Not true. I'm reading.
Maybe not commenting overmuch, but reading. -
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#32For me, today, writing feels more and more like im trying to force ideas out of my head, and when I write like that it feels much more fake to me, than when I used to be able to spontaneously come up with something and let it pretty much write itself as I type.
I think I owe this to mounting real life pressures: I have my first child coming in just a couple weeks - could be any day now. I feel drained and when I get to sit down in front of the computer I am exhausted and rather than actively write, I find myself mindlessly staring at the screen, occasionally writing a few sentences. I then get sick of it and decide to read some subs, but because im tired i find myself reading it halfway through, then having to re-read to comprehend what im reading. So for the amount of time I spend at this site, very little gets done.
In spite of all this, I am reluctant to give up on the site once again: I think its a wonderful place and I think the people that are a part of it are fantastic - even if some of them are absent sometimes.
So I continue in my cycle, waiting for the day when something just clicks for me, and I become active once more.
Also, Scras: I enjoy reading your things. You have a good consistency with quality work and plenty of information.
Sci fi is really not something I often get interested in, however, and I don't often post in some of the cosmic era subs because sometimes I don't quite get the setting and the 'technobabble' is lost on me. I feel that my comments and votes wouldn't make sense so i feel its better i don't comment.
As you know, im liking the idea of the Imbria stuff so far, though! -
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#33Writing is work. It requires as much energy and effort as other, more traditional, crafts do. Some days it is quick, easy work and others . . . other days it's hard to get a hundred words onto the page, much less a full submission or scene. In the end, just remember that the things which are taking you FOREVER to write -- the subs that make your eyes bleed and your brain hurt as you try to force the words out -- are not going to look that different to your audience; they won't be able to distinguish between the stuff that was easy and the stuff that was hard.
Just keep writing, and the easy days will come again. And in the meantime, maybe give yourselves a break and write something completely different, or something that can be done in little chunks (like a 30s list, or a short story). That may be all your brain needs to recharge.
Just keep writing.
P.S. Congrats on the new member of your family, Shadow! Kids suck away a lot of time, but are worth every minute. :) And Scras -- your work is excellent, but it's hard to keep up with everything you write! I doubt I'll ever be able to comment on all of your subs, not if I made it my personal mission to do so. -
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#34I am going through a change. Losing the code bug and getting back into writing and drawing. See how long this mood lasts! -
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#35Get creative Strolen! It will be good to see more subs from you! :D -
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#36Today, writing feels like standing on a beach, feeling the water wash upon my feet before subsiding once again. Over and over.
I sit and I write. A trickle becomes a regular flow, and then disappears. A thousand words appear on the page and suddenly there are no more words. Tomorrow the words will flow again.
I like this feeling. -
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#37
I think I owe this to mounting real life pressures: I have my first child coming in just a couple weeks - could be any day now.
Since that was four months ago, I'm going to assume your spawn has made it into the world. Congrats and best of luck to you. My own spawn is edging up on teenagehood... not that that terrifies me or anything. -
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#38
[quote author=Shadoweagle link=topic=5498.msg76481#msg76481 date=1366693545]
I think I owe this to mounting real life pressures: I have my first child coming in just a couple weeks - could be any day now.
Since that was four months ago, I'm going to assume your spawn has made it into the world. Congrats and best of luck to you. My own spawn is edging up on teenagehood... not that that terrifies me or anything.
Indeed, It lives and breathes. It causes sleep deprivation and raised tempers. It chews on time and makes playthings of my energy and motivation.
It eats ravenously, day and night, and then regurgitates its food onto me. It soils itself with reckless abandon and demands that I clean it. It devours my funds like candy, and when it is not one hundred percent content it wails its deathly cry to the high heavens for all the neighborhood to hear!
And I wouldn't change a thing. :)
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Re: Today, writing feels like...
#39Today, writing feels like a guilty pleasure, an indulgence.
I find the creative spark is smoldering, the the muse is quite attentive.
The discipline from gaining an exercise routine has bled over into other things, and writing is included. -
Re: Today, writing feels like...
#40That is a much more positive thing to hear than your last 'writing feels like', Scras - Feed the fire! Let it grow!