Heard this a few times, but of the sound advice I've gleaned from other writers, one gem has stuck out recently, and here is my summary: "If you're not enjoying it, maybe you're writing the wrong thing/ maybe that draft should go straight in the the bin".
Looking at the novel, I think my main struggle has been trying to fathom how to present this voice which is both very personal - almost autobiographical in many senses - and also very alien to me. I've felt so much responsibility (to friends? family? I dunno...) for something that hasn't even yet been written, plus I have so many unworked-out ideas floating about in my head that of course they all got bottlenecked somewhere in my brain and came out jumbled in various Word documents and email drafts.
Starting again feels good but, me being me, I haven't started again again, I've been "converting" some of my old material and adding the new. I think this works for me, but time will tell. The most majorest thing is spending time actually writing; not talking about writing, or berating the fact that I don't have time to write, but just getting down and dirty with the raw material. And re-learning how to enjoy it, which means staying up late, sadly. Plenty of caffeine and bags under the eyes, because late at night seems to be what works. My headspace is fully in it and there's nothing else to bother me (and the TV's mostly crap at 1.30 in the morning).
Anyway, all this to say that it's a beautiful thing to be inspired to write, but also a frustrating and, mostly, lonely thing. So, IMHO, there's nothing worse than doing a lonely, frustrating task and not actually enjoy it, unless it's your job and you're being paid handsomely (even still!)
So I'm just glad I can have a lay-in tomorrow! Going to edit some work now and stay up as late as my eyelids and ideas permit.
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