The best and hardest parts
I am currently in the process of writing two books and as I enter into the third hour of the day in which I have been trying to edit my work, it got me thinking of some of the most fun, and most challenging, parts of writing a book.
Here are my top 3 for each:
The Best Parts
- Word Dumping — I find this so much fun. When everything you think of appears on the page and your mind is like a magical well of good ideas and funny lines. It is both therapeutic and exhilarating
- The First Read Over — Reading your work over for this first time since you wrote it feels so exciting and exhilarating. You look back and are astounded with your creativity and wonder what genius did this. These words, otherwise normal, were strung together with such craft into a work of art. You did that, and it feels great.
- The New Ideas — When you first have a great idea to write about, it is all you can think about. The ideas flow to you so easily and you find yourself thinking of more additions at all hours of the day. The creativity seems to never end.
The Hard Parts
- Getting Stuck — Even the best of writers find themselves hitting a roadblock once in a while. Suddenly, the neverending flow of ideas trickles to a halt and no words seem to be good enough to put down on paper. This is a tough spot to be in. I find writing anything at all, even a few sentences you may cringe at after, helps to keep your mind working, and eventually, the floodgates will reopen, no matter how long that may take.
5. Editing, Editing, Editing — This part makes me ache with boredom. The first few run-throughs are okay but once you have read your piece of writing over and over again, it is harder to find the motivation to edit it and sit through hours of reading and re-reading the same few sentences.
6. Formatting — Similarly to editing, formatting is one of the more painful processes of creating a book. Sure, you could hire someone to do those two things for you but if you’re doing it on your own it can take weeks to months to finish this process, and most of that time is spent thinking about how you should be doing it and building up the motivation to start — or is that just me?
Wherever you are in your writing journey have fun and enjoy the process! I hope your creative wells always remain full and inspired.
