Sleep?

Lately for me, it’s been either no sleep or sleeping through the night and waking up feeling like I didn’t sleep a wink. That sucks. That doesn’t feel even the slightest good. Now there are a lot of factors that could cause this, but what I really want is to feel rested. That would be amazing.

I need three meals a day and a good night’s sleep for my brain to function at its best. I don’t like not being able to sort my thoughts. I like to feel awake, clear, and productive.

How’s your sleep going?

Daily Writing Goalsssss

“Write what you enjoy writing. Inspire yourself into a writing mood.”

I wasn’t really feeling like writing tonight but I decided to get my writing space set up and dig in anyway. I worked on my novel. (I’m not sure what to do with it now.) Decided to start a new story I’m excited about. It feels fun so far. And now I’m blogging in a way better mood. Writing every day isn’t always easy. I do sometimes feel like crying because I’d rather not write. But I do it. And now I have over 2000 blog posts, a novel, a collection of poetry, short stories, and a small but valuable number of followers. What’s wild is that those numbers are only going to keep growing.

#Stillgoing

Not everyone agrees with daily writing. Do you feel like you need to write every day?

God-given Talent

“I have spent a good many years since–too many, I think–being ashamed about what I write. I think I was forty before I realized that almost every writer of fiction or poetry who has ever published a line has been accused by someone of wasting his or her God-given talent. If you write (or paint or dance or sculpt or sing, I suppose), someone will try to make you feel lousy about it, that’s all.” – Stephen King

It’s true. People will legitimately make you feel lousy about your craft. The trick is to surround yourself with writers. Find the writers who adore your work. Find the writers who are so moved by your work that they want nothing more than to see its success. Does their desire magically bring you success? No, but there’s something about a fellow writer believing in you that keeps you writing more. And that’s the trick, to keep writing. Don’t ever quit. No matter what they say. We all know they’re going to talk shit. What we don’t know is the future works you’re going to surprise us with.

What things do you say to other writers to encourage them?

Bubbles of Time

“Half my life is an act of revision.” – John Irving

Boy ain’t this the truth. I’m constantly looking for ways to fully appreciate moments while I’m in them and even after they are gone. I’m much better at letting experiences go these days. Mostly so that I can enjoy new ones. Before I’d cling so hard to moments that it’d take away from the amazing ones I had in front of me. I clung to them because I wanted them to be even better. I wanted them to get better and better and better as I grew up. But that’s not the way experiences work. They are their own little bubbles of time that collect in our minds. They have a time and place where they existed and that’s what makes them so beautiful.

How does this quote make you feel?

Writing and the Freedom it Comes With

“A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it” – Roald Dahl

Well isn’t that an intriguing offer. Write, be free. Be your own master. I think this romanticizes writing a little bit but it sounds very nice. I’ll have to ask some successful writers how they feel about this quote.

What do you think? Absolute Freedom is a big statement. Do you think that there’s absolute freedom as a writer?

Return to Me

“For it would seem – her case proved it – that we write, not with the fingers, but with the whole person. The nerve which controls the pen winds itself about every fiber of our being, threads the heart, pierces the liver.” – Virginia Woolf

I love me some writers who bare their bones! I want an entire creep show. Creep as is oh snap, this is the real real. This is a writer separate from the rest. Those writers that call us out of our Stepford ways and let us shake free.

To write that way, Woolf says it well. They write with their entire being. Not just with the tips of their fingers but from depths of who they are. Imagine reading a piece of work that returns you to your self! That is good writing.

The Things You Love

Today is a good day to make sure you’re making time for the things you love. This is your whole life. This thing you do when you wake up and do the things you do, it’s all yours; a gift. You get to choose your priorities, your beliefs, and your friends. And get this, you have the freedom to try out different things to see what works best for you! Some of our elders did not get that privilege. So make sure you take full advantage of this life of yours in honor of them. I know we all have different levels of privilege and freedom. The truth still remains. Find your glimmer. Find your light. It’s yours.

Value Your Craft

“If people cannot write well, they cannot think well, and if they cannot think well, others will do their thinking for them.” ― George Orwell

When you see a problem deeply rooted in a broken system that’s been handed down from generation to generation, your writing can be the one reason someone breaks free. Your writing can be the only glimmer of hope for change. Your writing can be your own guide to liberation. Don’t ever underestimate your craft and what it does or will do for our world.

Anything

“You can make anything by writing.” – C.S. Lewis

I do believe this. Many life changing ideas come from reading a great book. Some works of fiction even give us a chance to let go and use our imaginations. We need the freedom that writing brings, so that we can envision new worlds.

Was there a work of fiction that inspired you?

You Must Be an Artist

“An artist is someone who can hold two opposing viewpoints and still remain fully functional.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

I don’t find artists to be more or less human than anyone else who answers the call, but I do appreciate this quote. As a writer, it’s required for me to shift to and fro from protagonist to antagonist. While shifting, I do want my characters to feel real. So I create them to have viewpoints that make sense and feel human.

How do you feel when switching from your protagonist’s point of view to your antagonist’s point of view? Do you hold similar viewpoints in both?