Writing is hard!
Sunday, November 22nd, 2009If I learned anything from studying journalism as an undergrad, it was that a deadline is the best source of motivation to a writer. I wrote more stories in less time than I knew I was capable of. It was kind of exhilarating in a way — like cheating death, if death was just an angry professor/editor.
But as I’ve learned from attempting National Novel Writing Month again this year, fiction doesn’t work the same way at all; at least, not for me. Between school and blogging, I’ve grown so used to having a set of facts to gather and write about that the mere act of making something up is practically impossible. I’ll spend hours sitting in front of a blank document trying to get over myself and just start telling a story, but then my conscience will step in and shove the results in my face with a disapproving tone. “‘Guy feels like he’s out of touch and longs for a girl he doesn’t deserve? Oh, and music plays a major role.’ Hmm. Congratulations, jackass! You just ripped off Nick Hornby.”
So now I’ve got eight days and change to write a brand-new 50,000-word novel. It’s my fifth concept for a novel so far this month, but I feel like this one’s going to write itself. It’s got two characters, a beginning and an end, and plenty of room to just make up whatever the hell I want in the middle. This experience hasn’t exactly turned out like I’d hoped (I would have loved to, just for once, not procrastinate until the last minute on just one thing in my life) but I know I need to finish it now, either way. After all the disheartening experiences I’ve had in the job market, I need to do something real and succeed at it to remind myself that I do have some practical use on this planet — even if it’s just making shit up.