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Monday, April 4, 2011

A writer's work is never done.

Happy Spring!  I don’t know about your part of the world, but it has been a slow start to spring this year for me.  As it snowed on Saturday, I am glad to see the temperatures rise above freezing, even if that means the start of the rainy season, or as I like to call it, mud season.  Which brings me to my point of the week, season/weather affected inspiration.  Now me, I am quite uninspired in the winter.  The cold, the ice, the snow, are not conducive to a good writing environment for me.  It is a true struggle to write something worthwhile.  Now with the start of the warmer air and sun shiny days, I get giddy with inspiration.  But wait, you say, there is so much more work and things to do when the weather is nice, how can anyone find time to write.  Well, yes, that is true….

…want some good, honest, true to me, advice?  Okay, here it is:  If you want to write, and be a writer, there is no “but” to it.  You do it.  You find the time. You stay up late or you get up early, you use your lunch hour, and you sit in the stands at baseball practice for your children with a notebook and pencil scrawling away.  Being a writer is like everything else in the world.  It’s work.  If you want to succeed, you have to work at it.  You have to put in the time and the effort otherwise, you will always be sitting on the sidelines, whining about what you WANT to do and never crowing about what you HAVE already accomplished.  I have my periods of crap just like everyone else (December), but I refuse to it hold me back for long. 

Ummm, so that’s my advice column for the year…..send you letters to Dear Courtney…..LOL!

Have a great week.
ctny

8 comments:

  1. Dear Courtney (a.k.a. Firecracker):
    I was afraid you'd say that!

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  2. Dear Courtney,
    My manuscript is misbehaving again. How do I get my characters to listen to me?
    Sincerely,
    Frustrated Writer

    Just kidding. I never even attempt to make my characters listen to me. I listen to them.

    But seriously, I completely agree. Writing is work. We have to make time for it. The good part is that if it's nice, we can write outside. And if the weather's bad, sit by the fire. Have I mentioned I love my job?

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  3. LOL! You guys are a hoot. Firecracker? Hahaha. As for making my characters listen, yeah that doesn't work for me either. They take the reins and I just hold on for the ride. I gotta say, I love my job too.

    ctny

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  4. So true Courtney... writers do make time for writing, however it also is perfectly fine to be uninspired. Use that time to take in what's going on around you... whether on the tube, at the mall, a baby shower, wedding, work... or how about doing something 'out of the ordinary?'

    Just be ready when that inspiration hits because that's one thing about inspiration. It's usually when you're out and about enjoying life that it'll show up without warning and all be dang-it if you won't have a pen in hand or a PC in site!

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  5. I haven't been writing for very long, but I've found that when I'm uninspired it's a good time to fill in details. I may not have the energy for a new scene or chapter, but I can do the nitty-gritty work of improving something that is already on the page. When inspiration hits it seems like it is most important to get down your ideas and you can always make them better later.

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  6. Dear Courtney,

    Sorry, but we are quite the opposite on the weather issue!! Winter inspires me. I love the cool, crisp air of the cold. I love to cuddle under a warm quilt with my sweats on. It makes me want to write and or read a book! The summer, well blah. I do love the sun, but get MAD when it's so hot I can't breathe. It depresses me. Weird, huh.
    Anyway, on those moments when I'm feeling uninspired, I use those times to do research, chat with other writers etc. etc. Writing is hard work, yes. You have to be willing to devote some each and every day, whether it's for writing, research or reading. If I don't do one of those, then that REALLY depresses me!!

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  7. You folks in the east coast have been having a snow filled winter! Since mid-March, here in Yukon, Canada, has been nothing but sunshine, hard frosts still, and above 0 temps for melting slowly, but surely. I use to find winters long and dark, but since really focusing on hobbies and working on my novel I find the winters go by very nicely. And I'm motivated to get most of my writing done in winter for I love to be outdoors in the spring and summer.

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  8. So true! I'm writing ALL the time. In the car, in bed, at the table, and constantly in my head. I'm up late all the time - 1 or 2am. But, getting up early... nope, not me. Mornings are very hard for me to get motivated to write (or do anything for that matter).
    Talia
    http://taliajager.blogspot.com

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