Is your Muse making you dance a merry path or is she sitting with you getting all the pages written? Are you?
We are writers, so we must write daily.
Not practising our craft is an insult to the craft, plus how are we going to improve if we do not work on it?
It’s a gift, it’s a passion, and a chore all rolled into one, but for most, between an actual ‘job’ or the household chores or the ‘real’ kids and the ‘must-do’ social niceties, there is scant time for actual writing.
Mostly I think, plan, and dream of my written words dazzling the world and all the naysayers out there.
Reality is far from ideal and on most days, I find myself agreeing to the distractions.
I hope that it’s a phase that is meant to temper my writing, hone my skills, and add that elusive emotional tug to my writing.
Instead, my mind is far from calm with the constant tug-of-war of trying and failing to justify my lack of writing.
How can my Muse be happy if I have no offerings for her?
How can she hone me if there is nothing to fine-tune?
How will the writing improve if there is no writing?
Short of keeping the laptop on standby and phone open on a note, there is little else I can offer to my muse, myself, and my writing, as well as the many drafts in various states of incomplete mess.
We are always told to listen to our Muse, to write when inspiration strikes, and never trifle with ideas and plot twists.
Am I always paying attention?
Do you manage to get all the ideas down?
Sadly, life finds endless ways of ensuring that I turn a deaf ear to the hints and nudges.
To both the subtle and the obvious ones as well.
Reading books and articles related to writing and editing is my latest remedy for pacifying the Muse.
Telling myself and my Muse that I’m preparing myself for the writing marathon that lies ahead.
After a particularly long spell of not writing anything substantial; I realized that I’d procrastinated enough.
Writing is the only way forward, the only thing left to do.
A few days ago I discussed the restlessness I felt due to not writing with a close friend.
The impotence I felt when I saw my dozen drafts lolling away, all incomplete yet outlined.
My friend highlighted the fact that I’ve been disregarding the signals coming my way.
Time—the most precious commodity is what I’m wasting and not just my writing and creativity.
Time is what we can’t get back, yet it’s the one that’s most wasted.
Scores of authors and writers swear by keeping their writing tie scared, clutter-free, and phone/ notifications free and I agree.
Though a bit late in life, but better late than never, right?
The hardest task is conditioning myself that it’s I who has to carve out the reading space, and writing time.
Reels and shorts… I’m looking at you even though I should look at myself.
If I don’t give importance to my writing time and don’t treat it as sacrosanct, then who is to blame?
All the aspects of writing that hinder us are born from within and through our actions can we solve them.
Here’s to writing more and I’ve written this down so I don’t forget.
Others can read it and be inspired.
This is the year that the book simmering within me is published.
