I've been thinking of "new home resolutions" for myself lately and on the top of the list is to write. I need to understand the following about myself: I can't write on the couch or by a TV (I've always done best sitting at a desk and blocking out the world with familiar music through headphones), and I thrive on routine. So when I have my extra time from a shorter commute (and a dishwasher!) I'm going to figure out when during each day I can sit down at a computer and write.
I currently have nine (9!) drafts for blog posts, and many of them are almost finished. When I have an idea for a new post, I try to get down as much as I can as soon as I can, but my latest tendency is to not go back and finish them. But they're there and I will finish them.
One of the bizarre quirks of writing that I've thought a lot about over the years is how hard it is to get yourself to write even though it's one of the things you most want to do and often the thing you need to do. It gets harder the longer you're away from it, too, and I think that's because we're afraid of the unknown and that's what the page becomes after too long. That's why routine is so important to me: if I sit at the screen every day at the same time I can become familiar with it, comfortable with it, maybe even look forward to it instead of dreading it.
A classmate in a creative process class I took described what happened when she started working on the same story everyday at the same time. It got to be that every day at that time her mind would jump into the world of her story, to the point that she would miss the characters (or feel the characters missing her) if she didn't get back to the page. That's the kind of attachment that's been missing from my writing life. In fact, the closest I've ever been to that was in college when I would crave the yellow legal pad I used for writing poems.
I wonder how much time people in other arts and professions spend thinking and writing about how they do what they do.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
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I paint and draw for fun as well as for freelance (and graphic design for a career), but the painting and drawing is what I'd rather do more of. It's more free and I feel more creative and expressive. The problem is that my transition into "adulthood" and an active member of society has provided me with too many chores and responsibilities and I tend to forget about painting from time to time. My stack of blank canvases in the closet says it all. I'd like to fit painting into my routine, but at the same time I'd miss the spontaneity that I also enjoy. Too much routine makes me suffocate, but not enough makes me miss out on some of my passions. Where's the balance??
ReplyDeleteYes! Thanks for the comment--it's nice to get the perspective of a different sort of artist on these things.
ReplyDeleteThe way I try to look at it is that this "adulthood" we've entered isn't very forgiving when it comes to chores and routines (as I'm sure we've both experienced, when inspiration strikes, it's tough to jump on it if you're, say, driving to work), so we need to work into that routine the time to indulge in our arts. Working on the art at the same time every day might not always produce the spontaneity we'd prefer, but at least that way there is a set space during which we might get that spontaneity, whereas without the routine we might not have any space for it at all.
Easier said than done, of course.