thedeadparrot (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thedeadparrot) wrote2017-05-21 01:44 pm
thedeadparrot) wrote2017-05-21 01:44 pm
Entry tags:
On my relationship with writing
I saw a picture go around Twitter with drawing/art advice, and there's a lot of stuff here that I could unpack, but the one that spoke the loudest to me is 'Preserve & nurture your relationship to drawing (writing)' and as part of the sub-bullet of that 'JOY IS A TOOL. JOY IS A SKILL.'
I've been writing fanfic for a while, as I am sure many of you reading this have been as well, and I know that my relationship to my writing has changed quite a bit over the years. It's actually gotten healthier these past few years, I think. It's easy to fall into that mindset where your fic is only as good as the number of people who enjoy it. There's feedback loops to posting fic, getting kudos and likes and comments and maybe a reblog or two, and wanting to write more so you get more of that positive feedback. I have been learning to take pleasure in the act of writing itself. Cultivating the joy in just being able to craft a story.
And seeing that tweet in the middle of working on a new story (first draft done!) meant that I also got a chance to self-reflect on how my relationship to writing can and does change over the course of a story. Sometimes the relationship is easy and everything feels great and the words just come out. Sometimes the relationship is just okay and you just go through the motions of getting from one sentence to the next. Sometimes the relationship is straight up awful and every word is like pulling teeth. Sometimes you like your writing and sometimes you hate it. I'm learning to accept that as part of my process, too, even if it's frustrating and annoying and terrible.
It's work, in the same way that the writing itself is also work. And it's hard to maintain the healthy balances that I would like. But it's been useful for me. Maybe it will also be useful for you.
I've been writing fanfic for a while, as I am sure many of you reading this have been as well, and I know that my relationship to my writing has changed quite a bit over the years. It's actually gotten healthier these past few years, I think. It's easy to fall into that mindset where your fic is only as good as the number of people who enjoy it. There's feedback loops to posting fic, getting kudos and likes and comments and maybe a reblog or two, and wanting to write more so you get more of that positive feedback. I have been learning to take pleasure in the act of writing itself. Cultivating the joy in just being able to craft a story.
And seeing that tweet in the middle of working on a new story (first draft done!) meant that I also got a chance to self-reflect on how my relationship to writing can and does change over the course of a story. Sometimes the relationship is easy and everything feels great and the words just come out. Sometimes the relationship is just okay and you just go through the motions of getting from one sentence to the next. Sometimes the relationship is straight up awful and every word is like pulling teeth. Sometimes you like your writing and sometimes you hate it. I'm learning to accept that as part of my process, too, even if it's frustrating and annoying and terrible.
It's work, in the same way that the writing itself is also work. And it's hard to maintain the healthy balances that I would like. But it's been useful for me. Maybe it will also be useful for you.
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