Tomorrow, August 1st, marks the beginning of the second month of writing on this book project of mine, and the halfway point of the original time period I had set aside for writing. How’s it going? Well, as one of my favorite professors said to nearly all questions in our Law and Higher Education class, “it depends.”
My favorite movie (of the modern era) is A Beautiful Mind, so I’ll use it to illustrate a point. On the days that neurons are firing, and I’m feeling really good, it’s like John Nash at the height of his proficiency:
But on the days where things are stuck, this image from Arrested Development is a little more appropriate.
The most appropriate thing to do seems to be to just get behind the computer and go for it, a la Ron Swanson:
And sometimes what I’m left with makes me want to take his extreme, but at times so fitting, measure to stop looking at it all:
So what am I saying, in very few words, about writing?
It’s hard.
Those who live in books, as I often do, love words. They’re like oxygen. But being a reader also makes me a pretty big critic of my own words. I’m learning that finding beauty in the passages I put on pages is a journey. Being quick to self-edit makes me slow, and I don’t always have the patience for it.
But it’s coming. And my friends and colleagues have been immensely helpful. It gives me hope that this project is going to be worth it when friends tag me with articles about introversion (and, sometimes extroversion) , or when a friend lets me know they have a coworker or student who needs help understanding temperament. So despite the days when I feel like George Michael Bluth, I persist. Because that makes the John Nash days all more special.
What tips do you have for when the words just won’t come? What keeps you creative? And what movies or TV shows do you watch to pass the time in between? I’m asking for a friend… 😉
Amma Marfo 