>27 >Just returning from the law firm. 9:00 pm(EST) on a Friday >Spent the ages of 17-24 wanting desperate to write a book >Wrote stories, editor, newspaper contributed. >Panic senior year, crave job security over pursuing writing. >Law school. >Fire to write burning me alive for three years. Squeeze out a few chapter of absolute turd. >Get job in big city. >Fire to write melting my insides >write less and less >work more and more >no time or energy for anything but work and sleep
Oldfags who've escaped this horrible cycle, how'd you do it. If you haven't escaped, how do you justify your existence?
I'm having trouble convincing myself this sort of life is worth living.
Caleb Miller
Keep a dream journal.
David Hernandez
I am a bit younger than you are, so my advice might not be as infused with wisdom as you might like it to be. However, I have gone through a situation comparable to yours. In fact, my situation was even worse, I quit a good full time job for a mediocre lower paying part time job to focus on my writing. Despite longer hours of free time I still neglected my writing. I realized that despite whatever situation I'm in, in terms of responsibilities, I'll always find an excuse to write less and less, to bottle up that deep desire to write with whatever excuse seemed handy at the present moment. I am predisposed to find a ridiculous excuse not to write seem rational. Like you, I felt like I was caught up in an endless cycle of mediocrity fueled by a lack of discipline. I got out of it by realizing that the solution is more simple than I was making it in my head. There is so much unnecessary baggage that writers carry around, when in reality the only thing to writing is just sitting down and getting it out. There are a million cliches that you could repeat as mantras, like Just Do It, but really those mantras are just more baggage, more excess if they don't translate into results. You cannot fix a blank page. My advice to you is to squeeze out more turds. Even if what you are writing is the worst of the worst, even if it makes you cringe, just keep going, because a turd is better than a blank page.
Alexander Powell
Work less
James Taylor
boo hoo
Carson Nguyen
bad idea
Isaac Myers
No. People don't need to work as much as they do. Be more frugal and less wasteful
Jackson Roberts
>returning from law firm >wasted life
Yes my anger is palpable
Colton Evans
How is this a horrible cycle? I only found happiness through wagecuckery. Did wonders for my social and dating life. Too busy and tired to worry about "big" questions.
Andrew Murphy
You need to keep designated separate space for writing, relaxation, and work. If you are tired from work and you sit down at home, your writing and relaxation are in competition. Don't sleep, eat, or watch tv in the same room as your write/ Try to put as much distance between the two, the method of loci is more than just for memory. If you are lucky enough to have one of those inner city yards with the wooden fences and narrow secluded feel, I'd suggest getting a fold up chair and writing out there. The closeness of the space is alhambraic.
Whenever I am in a rut I try to move, it doesn't matter where. I know people who write exclusively while on the train. If one has trouble with dialogue for example, just eavesdropping on the proles dialect can give a lot of insight. Also it's better to write in the early morning, I've found, I have the most focus then and can drink coffee.
