Taking It As I Go

The last time that I was on the forums, I was talking about starting a novel & finishing it. I was very determined to finish that novel, & I got a lot of advice that worked for me, & a lot of advice that didn't. I tried to force myself to write, but that just didn't work for me. I ended up just giving myself a break. I tried to write a little bit everyday, but I eventually started dreading writing at the end of everyday, and I didn't like that feeling. So, I've reverted back my old habits somewhat: not forcing myself to write, & letting my creativity flow by itself.

I do write a lot, though. I used to just go months w/out writing, but at most now I only go 2 weeks. I was focusing on just one novel, but now I just write little bits of different stories. I mean, I could stay & focus on one novel, but eventually when I start forcing myself, it takes the fun out of it, and I don't want writing to be not fun. Yes, I understand it can be work, but I want it to be fun work. I want to love writing, not dread my writing hour each day.

So, I write what comes to me when it wants to come. I started a short story the other day. It's a mystery, my first mystery, & I think it's coming along quite well. It's a short story based off of an original series of mine that's very close to my heart & has been for a very long time. I'm also experimenting with a new character, that I've come to adore quite a lot. I just had surgery yesterday, so I've been rather miserable, & this story has served as a wonderful distraction from my post-operative pain.

That's what writing has always supposed to do for me, make me happy & be the highlight of my life. I don't want to force productivity & destroy a good thing. If it's not broke, it doesn't need to be fixed. I've found a happy medium between the forcing productivity & my bad habit of getting side-tracked. I'm going to stay here & just take it as I go.