The *Why am I doing this?-Probably no one will read it anyway-Even if they do I won't even know it-It sucks anyway-Why did I even start writing it?-I should switch to doing chalk drawings on the sidewalk, or paint-by-numbers, or sculpting mesas out of mashed potatoes like Richard Dreyfuss* phase.
Some of you out there have probably gone through this stage at some point while writing a short story or a poem or a (maybe even NaNoWriMo) novel. Probably most of you. Hell, maybe all of you.
So how did you handle it? Did you ignore it and plow ahead anyway? Or stop writing, crawl into a corner, and whimper till the phase ends? Or maybe grab a spoon and stuff your face with Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey till dawn? Or possibly binge-watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer till your eyeballs almost implode?
Sometimes I pretty much do all of the above. In one night.
Well, in the next week (or less, or more), you'll find out whether I made it through and got my story to final-draft-perfection and pubbed it here on my website. When (if?) I do, will I be all happy-happy-beaming-with-pride, or will I pull the covers over my head and empty a couple cartons of Ben and Jerry's? Does it matter? Will planet Earth keep on turning? Will the sun rise the next morning? Will Daryl and Carol ever do the horizontal mambo?
Oops. That last question was meant for a different post.
Anyway, just thought I'd share my present-day writing situation with my fellow writer-tweeps and anyone else who's curious about the writing experience. It's an awesome thing. I'd place the experience somewhere between that moment when you finally reach the head of the line at your favorite Disneyland ride...and a sharp stick in the eye.
I love it. :-}
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Image by Mez Love at Flickr Commons