I love to write. I love the creation aspect seeing things take shape, worlds appear, and characters develop. I love the sound of a well-written sentence, a catchy phrase, or a witty description. I also love the satisfaction of finishing something, be it a section, a chapter, or a book. I adore feedback. I don't just write for myself, that would be selfish. I write for others. I like to entertain and this seems to be my gift, sort of. I am definitely not a master.
All of these things aside, I am constantly reminded that writing takes work. I must think about what I want to say, the direction I want to take my characters, the goal I want to attain, and the nuances of the presentation. It takes concentration. I have to keep track of everything in my head. Who is where and what they said. Where they are going, and how I want to get them there. What would fit and what wouldn't. It is like improvising an entire play by oneself. If there is a crisis, I am the one that has to dig my characters out of it. If there is a knot, I have to untie it. I am responsible for every word, punctuation, and grammatical technique. It is a big job and hard work.
It also takes discipline. I have to make myself the time to write. If I do not, it will not get done. I must choose to sit down, ignore the email, the TV, the movies, the books, and pretty much everything else for a hour or two. It also takes tenacity. When a character won't cooperate, a scene feels wrong, a plot point appears weak, it is easy to just drop it and walk away. Thankfully, I am hooked enough by this point that the very fact that the job is half done bothers me into picking things up again. Regardless, it still takes a stubborn streak to bang out words even when you know that they aren't any good. Of course, if you keep banging long enough and hard enough, the right words will come. They will line up in formation, flashing their perfection at you until you can only praise the Great Author who made them do that. :)
Yes, writing is hard work. The best past time in the whole world.
