Imagine being armed with an attention span that wiggles, wriggles, and writhes like the arms/legs of an octopus. I'm not gonna claim to have Attention Deficit Disorder (my ex would love to dispute this), but sometimes I just can't focus. It just feels like my brain wants to do everything else and get knee-deep in my first love--writing. Yes, I want to be a writer. Maybe a poet on the side, maybe somebody who writes a guest article or two. I want to write, polish my craft, and immerse yet another generation in pages full of imagination, thought, and amazement. I want to be on Amazon and on shelves of bookstores. I want to be carried and stored on Kindles and iPads. So why can't I just do it?
Don't you hate it when the only thing stopping you is yourself? The ideas are all there, but that session of Sims Social is calling. The next lines of dialogue are in your head, but you're splitting time between looking for hair scarves and the latest plus-size Summer and late Spring fashions. You've got all the time in the world, but it seems like there's never enough time. Why does this keep happening?
When I was much younger and fresh out of high school, my mind was on the task. I made myself a cup of tea, sat down at my desk late at night, and spent those Summer hours creating a "masterpiece" on my old computer that I dubbed Rose Knights. This was my baby and nobody was going to stop me from making my catgirl fiction novel. I took ideas from old IM conversations from a puppy love roleplay partner and ran into the night with at least 5 different versions of my story. I was a very, very lumpy slab of clay yet to be sculpted into something spectacular. When my computer crashed and I failed to save those files, I had to start all over again. I actually gave up and decided to move on to other things.
That was the first time I was every stripped and strapped of my motivation to write. It's like that moment after a breakup when you wonder "will I ever love again?" Of COURSE I "loved" again. Hell, I "loved" best when I was on the emotional roller coaster. How can I be committed to my craft if my attention span is all over the place? A critical person would say "you don't want to do this. If you did, it would get done." They'd be wrong, but what could I tell them? It looks that way and sounds that way. However, it isn't that way.
I'm at the tail end of my adventures with online college. Between papers and worksheets, I've been finding time off and on to get my work done. When I really get concentrated and still, I have plenty to talk about. I'm not distracted. When I stop getting frustrated over "getting it done" or trying to be like everyone else who's been there, the focus and the investment go right back to the story. I feel like I can do it all over again.
I think my biggest problem is that I like to start and stop projects all the time. I have a folder full of unfinished stories. I stop when I shouldn't, losing interest and moving on to the next thing. I feel compelled to listen to the voice in my head that says "this is an AWESOME idea! Open Microsoft Office NOWWW!!" I hate to ignore that voice, but sometimes I have to. It made me write a crappy play about breaking up and moving on, but now it's got me invested in something I know I can write about. That's what I'm doing right now--sticking to what I know. To be finished when there's nothing left to write about. :-)
Don't you hate it when the only thing stopping you is yourself? The ideas are all there, but that session of Sims Social is calling. The next lines of dialogue are in your head, but you're splitting time between looking for hair scarves and the latest plus-size Summer and late Spring fashions. You've got all the time in the world, but it seems like there's never enough time. Why does this keep happening?
When I was much younger and fresh out of high school, my mind was on the task. I made myself a cup of tea, sat down at my desk late at night, and spent those Summer hours creating a "masterpiece" on my old computer that I dubbed Rose Knights. This was my baby and nobody was going to stop me from making my catgirl fiction novel. I took ideas from old IM conversations from a puppy love roleplay partner and ran into the night with at least 5 different versions of my story. I was a very, very lumpy slab of clay yet to be sculpted into something spectacular. When my computer crashed and I failed to save those files, I had to start all over again. I actually gave up and decided to move on to other things.
That was the first time I was every stripped and strapped of my motivation to write. It's like that moment after a breakup when you wonder "will I ever love again?" Of COURSE I "loved" again. Hell, I "loved" best when I was on the emotional roller coaster. How can I be committed to my craft if my attention span is all over the place? A critical person would say "you don't want to do this. If you did, it would get done." They'd be wrong, but what could I tell them? It looks that way and sounds that way. However, it isn't that way.
I'm at the tail end of my adventures with online college. Between papers and worksheets, I've been finding time off and on to get my work done. When I really get concentrated and still, I have plenty to talk about. I'm not distracted. When I stop getting frustrated over "getting it done" or trying to be like everyone else who's been there, the focus and the investment go right back to the story. I feel like I can do it all over again.
I think my biggest problem is that I like to start and stop projects all the time. I have a folder full of unfinished stories. I stop when I shouldn't, losing interest and moving on to the next thing. I feel compelled to listen to the voice in my head that says "this is an AWESOME idea! Open Microsoft Office NOWWW!!" I hate to ignore that voice, but sometimes I have to. It made me write a crappy play about breaking up and moving on, but now it's got me invested in something I know I can write about. That's what I'm doing right now--sticking to what I know. To be finished when there's nothing left to write about. :-)