Free write

By Coldwriter · Dec 11, 2009 · ·
  1. Just a glimpse in my mind during a free write
    ***********************************

    I have to write. I have this silent prodding every day. No that’s not true. It’s every moment I have free. My free time. That means any chance to get to a computer. I have to write. When I read Writers Digest, I want to write. When I see a sunset, I want to write. When I observe people, I want to write. When I think about fantasy, video games, and Terry Brooks, I want to write. Write, write, write. You know what is annoyingly amusing though? When I feel that inspiration to write (not to be confused with the inspiration of a good idea) I sit down and stop. I don’t write but watch the screen. Words float in my mind. Ideas sprawl before me. It’s all an entire maze within me that I cannot seem to sort out. In the end, I either back down from the pressure, realizing it’s hopeless to produce something good or, more happily, I start somewhere. Anywhere. A beginning will produce an end. I have to try. Try to escape the maze. But it’s not something I want to escape. I would run away and leave the maze if that was the case. At the other side of the maze is my treasure: the published novel. I can see it on the other side, even if I cant touch it. Odd. Although I can see the end, I cannot see the way. How can I see the prize and not the path that gets me there? It’s like the idea is opened like a valley between the mountains, allowing my eyes to go beyond and see but as for the journey itself, it closes in me like the gates of troy. But I have to write. I want to write. These last five days or so that is all I have wanted to do. How much do I have to show for it? Hundreds of pages actually. Yeah, you can see them all. I can prove it. I have done that much, and probably more. The trouble is, all the sheets save several are all pure white. You see, I have most of the thoughts in my head and few words. Oh sure, The Tree has progressed. But a paragraph a day is hardly anything. But it is something. It is a step. It is a routine. It is progress. It is writing. In some ways, that is content. But it’s only one form of being content. My greatest struggle, challenge in writing a novel or anything really is…
    Freshness.
    Avoiding Clichés.
    When I sit down to write here is the process:
    I know I need to write.
    So I write.
    I write poorly.
    I just need to get the main idea on paper.
    This produces the cliché and many-times-read-before lines and phrases.
    I persist but I know I cant and also, I don’t want to write them.
    Write I must.

Comments

  1. Evil Flamingo
    You just described the nearly impassable barrier that most of novel-less writers feel, and quite elegantly I might add. You'll get one out there someday, as will, hopefully, I. It's the freezing at the screen that kills though.
  2. Kas
    This is a feeling I'm very familiar with.

    But here's the good news, CW. Those who can recognise their own faults, find the flaws in their work, accept honest criticism and utilise it, are the most likely to be successful, I think. The opposite is true for those who lack the humility to undergo the full process.

    With your attitude, you can't go wrong. I suspect you'll find yourself improving at an astonishing rate. Just keep plugging away at it.:)
  3. Coldwriter
    Mingo: thanks bro. In this case it's chin down! okay..lame.. haha

    Kas: I highly appreciate that reply. Without knowing me, you touched on something quite a few close friends have told me: potential is there and with your outlook, you can do it. We see the progress.

    Thanks
  4. Writing to Escape
    Oh, how this post speaks to me. You’ve managed to capture the incoherent feelings towards writing that swirl through my mind and beautifully express them.
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