Somebody once told me that nobody likes writing, they like having written. I kinda get where he was coming from. When I write, what I'm proud of is how well the story turns out, how much I like the characters, etc. A good finished project can make up for the weeks and months spent pulling my hair out in frustration trying to get everything just right. Thats not to say that I dislike writing. I wouldn't spend so much of my free time doing it if I hated it. But if the finished product doesn't turn out well, then the time I spent writing it doesn't make me feel any better. What do you guys think? Do you enjoy *writing* or *having written?*
It sounds like a rework of a Mark Twain quote - a classic is something everybody wants to have read, but no one wants to read.
I enjoy the writing. I don't enjoy the editing process, or the research process, or the promotion process. But I do love having the damn thing done, the finished copy (or a pre-print) in my hands. I think it may equate with a woman's pregnancy. She doesn't enjoy it, and she certainly doesn't enjoy the childbirth process, but she loves the kid like nobody's business. BTW. here's the history of the quote: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/10/18/on-writing/
I love having written something I'm proud of. But also I value the experience of all the writing I've done, and I know without so much I wouldn't be where I am now. But I also love the writing, especially when it's going well. Yeah, there are those times when I'm pulling out my hair, but I even love those times in a weird way. It's just part of the creative challenge—if it didn't get intense at times, there also wouldn't be that thrill of pure creation.
Sometimes I love writing. When I'm in the zone and the words are flowing and I'm just along for the ride; when I have a shiny new idea that's brimming with possibility; when I finally unstick that plot-hole that's been driving me crazy; when I'm polishing prose in later drafts (yeah, I'm weird like that). With any longer piece though, there will be parts where it feels like a slog or a grind, and in those times it is the idea of having a final product that gets me through it.
I like writing. You can't get to having written without writing in the first place. There are lots of amateur writers who want to have written because they don't have the interest in putting in the hard work to actually write. Those people go nowhere.
I enjoy writing. Nothing like getting a good train of thought going and riding to the end. Sometimes need a break to chill out, though.
I love the second draft. I think that's why I start it before the first draft is done. No one loves to edit more than me! I've got to admit though, when I check the word count and it's up a 1000 (or even 500), that means a lot too.
Short answer: Yes. Longer answer: A long time ago I read a sci-fi book in which the lead character, near the end, said "It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive." I think I feel that way about writing. I enjoy the process. Life -- for me -- is a constant endeavor to make things better. I'm never satisfied with what I have built, designed, created, or written. I always think it could or should have been better. Actually finishing something and letting it go is, to me, a let-down. It means I have to let go of it, and let it stand or fail on its merits (if it has any). I might go so far as to compare it to post-partum depression but, since I'm not female, I obviously am not really in a position to fairly make that comparison.
Sometimes it can be a slog, but even then I still enjoy the process of writing more than almost anything I could be doing instead. If I didn't, I'd stop writing and go do the thing I'd rather be doing. Writing is insular, frustrating, often thankless work, and few people get paid even minimum wage to do it, so I homestly don't understand why anyone would spend their time writing if they didn't enjoy it.
I thought this was an English language question in Word Mechanics. But since I'm here, I enjoy the writing a lot more than the editing stage. I like the writing so much that I make it a secret all for myself to enjoy and only tell folks I've written another one when it's done and usually past the second draft.
I enjoy writing the first draft, it's like being on a high. It feels like someone is dictating the words to me, I'm just typing them into my laptop.
It's funny, but with writing I like having written. I love to go back (with most, there are a few horrible clunkers) and re-read what I consider I've successfully written. But with some of my other creative outlets it's all about the making. Once the project is done I've little or no interest in it (and no, Mrs. A and I don't have any kids if that was what you were thinking. Might have the same attitude if we did though I'm not a good person).
I have heard this before. I don't actually agree with it. If i'm drafting and i am not enjoying the process of putting the words down on the page and being in the moment where i'm envisioning and composing...well, it might be a rough day, and that's all right, we all have them and my writing is still good even when I'm feeling grumpy about it. but if i don't recover from that and slip into my usual hyperfocused, emotionally invested work trance within a couple of days? something is wrong, and the best thing i can do is lift my hands from the keyboard and stop, because something is terribly wrong with what i wrote in the last week and i need to go back and figure out what it is.
