Well, since you asked . . .
I've been to bed earlier than 2:00 am exactly twice in the last couple of weeks. I can't remember the last time I was asleep before 1:00. This is largely a symptom of my own disorganization and poor prioritization/time management, but, nonetheless, it's exhausting.
Currently, I'm feeling enormous pressure to write (all of it self-inflicted). Simultaneously, I'm so tired that I feel numb and uninspired. As is the way of such things, it's hard to keep perspective and realize that one day I will be rested again, and I will have the energy to write. Because all of this is compounded by crippling self-doubt, where I'm so very afraid of failure that I can't even begin.
I know the correct steps to take to make things better: get more sleep, exercise more, make modest and achievable writing goals.
But if I had an easy time doing those things, I wouldn't be the person who's always running late, showing up with wet hair and bags under my eyes.
I'm always questioning my writing. It's paralyzing, isn't it? One thing I've learned is to just get it on paper first; go back and freak-out later.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the advice, and for stopping by. I'm glad you visited, and will be sorry when you leave, never to return, as you surely will when you realize that one of my secret shames is my inability to consistently remember the oh-so-simple rules for "lay" and "lie."
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the paralyzing fear and worried that you'll spend loads of time and end up with a pile of crap. I don't think I could do NaNoWriMO or whatever it is, but I've been doing the http://70daysofsweat.com/wordpress/
ReplyDeleteWe're mostly romance writers but there are more and the quotes are universal, so are the goals. You get to set your daily goal and then check in once a week to commisserate (horribly misspelled?). Regardless the next one starts on Oct 15th. It may be worth looking at if you'd like a kick in the rump. :)
I would like a kick in the rump, as it turns out, but mostly I think I should just go to bed now (it's 2:30 am).
ReplyDeleteI was getting the kids ready for school when I wrote that. Talk about quick response that was totally unexpected. I've written 1000 words today so far. I think 1000 words is a respectable goal when you have a lot going on in life. There's been days where I push the 3000 mark, but I'm editing and adding right now, so it takes longer.
ReplyDeleteMake your goals achievable considering everything that's going on in your life. I wrote in a tent while camping in Ireland. I didn't write much 200-300 words a night. But I wrote and that's what it's all about. Persistance.
Oops. I knew the "lay/lie" thing would come back to bite me. (I shouldn't talk grammar -- I'm the queen on meandering, run-on sentences.)
ReplyDeleteYou know how I remember it? Lay=place, lie=recline.