What piques my curiosity is why you hate writing instead of all the obligations keeping you from it? It's everything else I hate when I'd rather be writing.
Maybe it's not the writing I hate, but the feelings writing taunts me with when I can't pay attention to her.
Writing is not so fun when you're just snatching five minutes before the next bit of real life interferes. It can take me a good ten minutes to get my writing flow on. Scenes which are written in lots of snatched five minutes get boring as you keep on having to remind yourself what you were doing and often turn out rather choppy. I agree that when real life allows you longer uninterrupted periods, writing is much more fun.
I agree with Gingercoffee ... It's the stuff that gets in the way I abhor. Looking at it like that, it means I work my writing into every bit of spare time I get and I write whether it's snatched moments or long periods. The longer periods can be bitter sweet, and the short fifteen minutes here or there of frothing creativity can be immensely satisfying. Believe me, even with dedicating an entire day to writing you'll still want more time and more time. It doesn't stop until you can devote every hour you are awake and then you are utterly spent. As a wiser man once said to me (I think from the silver screen) "we make do with the time we are given and we make the most of it."
I don't hate the writing, and I don't hate the things that distract me from writing. I hate that while I can force myself to write, I force myself to do it for too long, and I wind up burning out. I've done nothing creative in about 5 months because I burnt myself out after putting about 4 hours a day into my writing on top of my full time job and taking care of my wife. I hate the burnout.
What I see are excuses. Excuses of a writer who does not feel confident in his ability to complete something meaningful. You blame work and life for your short comings. Blame your lack of self-confidence.
Wow. Did you even read OP's message? He said he loves writing (and is able to) when he has the time, but he becomes frustrated when he doesn't have the time. Unless you are pulling those accusations from elsewhere, they seem well off base and unnecessarily abrasive.
Nasty. That's a pain. I used to do that but they continued to screw me so now I stick to my 40 contracted hours. Fuckers.
So I was mowing the lawn this evening. I hate it, and the mossies were biting. But I thought up the perfect events to happen in a scene I'm working on. All was not lost. Can't do that when I'm working on anything that requires brain power mind you.
You can often snatch writing hours away from all the rest of the sturm and drang of life, and sit yourself down to write ...but what is missing is the mental down time you need to be creative. Okay, so you've banished the family for an hour, locked the door, pulled the phone out of the wall or chucked it into a nearby body of water, fired up the computer ...and then what. Your brain is still fizzing away with what else you need to be doing (including rest) and writing just doesn't happen. You can type furiously for an hour or two, but you churn out rubbish which you'll delete next time you sit down to the task. Your heart (or rather your head) just isn't in the task. No real solution for this, I'm afraid. I do hope you don't give up on your writing, though, @Garball . Maybe what you really need is to give yourself permission to back off from it for a while. Do what you can to lessen the pressure on yourself, including shelve the writing for a while. I'm sure if you really love it, you'll eventually return to writing, feeling energised and creative again. Just give yourself a break, if you need one!
Bloody hell! That's a harsh job. Do you mind telling us what it is? 70 hours is an insane amount of time to work in employment. You're saying then, you work 7 days a week? In some countries that amounts to cruelty. Full time writers don't even work that long (without burning out that is). If that's the cause then kudos for even managing to get to this forum let alone the time to sit down and write!
I read in one of Isaac Asimov's memoirs that he worked at his writing for 70 hours a week. He loved it. It was exactly what he wanted to be doing with his life, so he had a happy career. He also wrote over 500 books, and you can't do that without putting in some serious hours!
70 hours per week is not that uncommon in the U.S. Law firm associates, investment bankers, doctor residency all get 70 hours (and sometimes more) over 6-7 days. Of course, it still is terrible and I feel for the OP.
70 hours? Jeez. But then I remember reading somewhere the pulp writers of the depression era would write every waking hour just to live, so I guess 70 hours isn't so bad!?! That's not for me. Writing is one thing, but I prefer to have some time apart from it.
When you already have a career, breaking into another is the hardest thing, especially one like writing. Careers are demanding things. I would add @Garball, that you probably need to prioritise the writing if you want to keep doing it. Even things like this forum for example. Since joining last year you've averaged 5 messages a day not to mention the competition entries. That's a lot of time spent discussing writing, reading what others are doing rather than doing your own writing when you really don't have much time to do either. Cut down the social media and find more time to write what matters, is my advice.
I agree with Jannert, you need to be kind to yourself and realize that although you can achieve an incredible amount by pushing yourself all day, everyday, it does suck dry the part of your soul that you write and create from. And FrankieWuhs' point about spending less time at the Forum is a valid one, but of course you need connection and support from other writers too! I have worked from dark to dark dairyfarming- only eating standing up, 7 days a week with out a day off in 6 months; I worked myself sick. Somehow, I hope you can find a way to take back your self, to honor yourself as a writer by resting, by getting some down time somewhere, somehow. My challenge is having no head-space because of my three kids. I have found writing time writing long-hand while breastfeeding, gotten up insanely early to write even though I was already sleep-deprived, and snatched every moment I can, because without writing I would go more crazy then I already am. You will find a way, I believe in you! You have found the strength to get this far, you will find a way to honor your writing. Just be a bit kinder to yourself..
I think most of our problems are time. It seems like an almost cruel irony to me that inspiration didnt strike me as a writer until I was 34, 3 months before the birth of my son. Before that Iwould spend hours, weeks, months, dicking around playing computer games, lying in bed, watching films and stupid tv shows. Now if I get an hour free after work, study, childcare, or recovering from exhaustion it is a rarity. Right now I have a week off work after spending 4 weeks out of the last 5 travelling overseas for my job, what am I doing with it? Writing and re-writing some stupid marketing project for my diploma course so I can get sucked further into a career I already dont like and aren't suited to. C'est la vie.
I do. Everytime I try to write a novel. An optimist would say in that case, I haven't given up, otherwise I wouldn't keep trying. But then my glass has always been empty.
