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Monday, November 5, 2012

10 things I hate about writing






In lieu of a list on books this week for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and The Bookish... As you know, I'm in the middle of National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo, for the month of November so in lieu of reading a book, I'm writing a book - 50,000 words to be exact and I love doing it for the most part, especially since I am not showing it to ANYONE (it's only for me). However, there are some things that frustrate the heck out of me.

1.) Finding the time: With working a full-time job Monday - Friday 8:30-5:30, I have little time to come up with ideas since I'm focusing on my real job. And it will be longer hours this week and part of next week as I will be working late nights, early mornings, through lunches and over this upcoming weekend for an annual busy season we have here. Thankfully, my company is awesome and they bring in tasty dinners for us all. But that's not all. With travel plans, Thanksgiving, my birthday, my husband's birthday AND our wedding anniversary all within 4 weeks, I have a lot going on. The good news is that my ideas, once formed, flow onto the computer screen all at once and I can type damn fast. 

2.) Vocabulary. I was an English major so this shouldn't be a problem but it is. I have to stop often because I can't think of the right word to use. This obviously stops the creative freestyle writing process as I have to go to thesaurus.com every two paragraphs. An example was trying to talk about a character who was calm but then started asking questions rapidly. I knew I wanted him to sound like he was being a jerk and that he was being pushy with his questions but then I couldn't think of the word that was on the tip of my tongue. "He began to ask questions more __________ly". What is that word? Ah, "aggressively". I mean how weird is that? 

3.) Descriptions. I'm terrible at describing stuff. When I got married three years ago, women wanted me to describe my dress. "Uh, it's like white and has flat layers and has a medium-length train." My mother would then step in and describe it as "A-line, with thick stripes to match the bodice, simple, very traditional but with a uniqueness to it in the way it's layered, a sweep train and Katie, it's Stark White as opposed to diamond-white or eggshell..." Yeh, whatever. It was a dress and I liked it.

4.) Somehow getting the reader to understand why something is so important. I sometimes want to write out "Reader: pay attention to this because it will become important later on."

5.) Distractions. I had a ton of those this weekend as we traveled to and from Pennsylvania. First, I couldn't get my computer to work right. Then, we were doing family stuff. Then, finally on the way home, I pull out my laptop and try and write as my husband drove the first hour, but with his constant swearing at bad drivers and the annoying turns and twists, I just couldn't concentrate. Plus, I have a hard time writing in public places. I have to be home or somewhere by myself.

6.) Trying to remember feelings. Since some of this is autobiographical, I'm trying to remember feelings and senses for certain times and it's harder than I thought it would be. 

7.) Knowing that this is only for me. "I don't want anybody to read this." Yeh, I know that's what I said, but it might be nice to get a little feedback. If my husband is good, I might let him read it but that's still a big maybe.

8.) Knowing that I'm not Charlotte Bronte or Hemingway. Even though it feels good to be writing 50,000 words, I know it isn't a masterpiece. 

Eh, whatever - I got to get back to writing my book now. :)


2 comments:

Kimberly @ Midnight Book Girl said...

And these things are the reasons why I'll never be a writer ;)

I hope it's going good for you!

Kate @Midnight Book Girl said...

Number 2 will get better the more you're writing. If you don't write a lot it's kind of like getting on a bike again, you can physically do it, but you might be a bit wobbly at first!