I know all of you men out there immediately expected this to be a post about the manly bonding that can only be found at the local brewhouse, but G.K. Chesterton knows infinitely more about that than I, and he has pretty much said everything that can be said about that already. So, if that's what you were hoping for, take up and read What's Wrong With the World.
No...this is about my seeming inability to complete and publish blog posts with any regularity. I have no fewer than 86 drafts online...with an additional 43 drafts in a folder...all in various stages of completion. That's a LOT of stuff to say. Yet I find myself unable to "close the deal" on most of them. Writing well, and with any seriousness, is a laborious (though joyful) task for me and requires a great deal of effort and concentration which I seem to lack these days.
So...I keep posting shallow stuff, or someone else's thoughts in hopes that my readers will not utterly abandon me! 'Cause if you leave me now, you'll take away the biggest...nevermind. (But I got you hummin' a little Chicago, didn't I? You can thank me later.)
Perhaps the cool air will awaken my heart and brain allowing me to formulate my thoughts clearly enough to FINISH at least some of what I have begun. Have any of you bloggers out there experienced this? I am not lacking in ideas...just the discipline and motivation required to formulate those ideas into something sensible and presentable.
But I'm not giving up...yet.
5 comments:
Wowsers...over 100 drafts?? I don't do that with my blogging so much, but I certainly can relate to unfinished writing projects. I have a number them in different genres (short stories, spoof advice columns, an unfinished middle grade novel, an outline of a screenplay...) But I have finished writing & editing two books, so at least I know I can see one of those long writing projects to the end.
BTW, when I saw your post title I didn't think of beer or writing....I thought of the military. Guess that's what comes of having an 18-year-old son in ROTC!
Hey, have you gotten an agent or any takers for your finished books?
Military...of course. If my Eric stays the course, I suppose that will be my default mode of thinking some day too!
I wrote about this very thing not that long ago. For me, the ten drafts sitting in blogger are there because of laziness and pride. I tend to get a little obsessed with only publishing stuff that everyone will think is BRILLIANT, so I end up just not posting at all. I'm working on the discipline of putting stuff out there without worrying if it's the most earth-shattering thing ever.
So yes! I understand! :)
Laura, last time I visited your blog there wasn't anything new! Now I know why. ;-)
I have to admit that pride is part of it for me too. I want to read what I've written a year from now and think, "Wow...I wrote that. That wasn't a waste of my time." I don't mind doing some casual fluff here and there, but if I'm going to approach a serious subject, I want to do it well!
Great to hear from you, btw.
Lori: I'm currently sending out queries for my romantic comedy. I've had some encouragement from one literary agent, but no takers so far. My other one, a middle grade novel, had an agent, then didn't, then did, then didn't....long story. Bottom line: at the moment, neither is being considered for publication.
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