Writing My First Book Almost Ruined Me
Writing novels was my dream but trying to finish a first book is ruined my relationship with writing.
What I imagined when starting a book was that I would be done within a year. It would be a masterpiece of inspiration and insight into my own life and experiences.
It slowly became a collection of short stories, unfinished work, and stress.
It sucks. I never thought that writing a complete book, something that would actually sell, could be so time consuming and inspiring at the same time.
I admit that writing a good book is something that I might not be able to do, but learning this now saved me from missing out on other things that I do enjoy.
I missed reading.
I had been obsessing over writing for so long that I forgot about the joy of reading. Then one day, I realized that the time spent not reading was actually time lost not learning.
Most inspiration comes from seeing and reading valuable information versus trying to push your brain into madness.
Sure you could say that writing should be original, but original ideas are hard to come by. Learning from the greats and gathering a better understanding of what plots work and how. This will be much more valuable in the end.
Forget writing the book I said
Going back to the book means dealing with terrible plots and characters that were just an attempt to fill in the blanks. I needed some character to move the story even if the character was a terrible idea.
Letting bad projects go isn’t bad or a sign of failure but of growth. It takes maturity to let bad ideas go even if you were at first in love with it.
Yes, I learned from writing, but I know that finishing the story won’t make me happy. It would be a real waste of my time.
If you desire to write…
With most things in life, taking it slow and taking your time pays off more than going fast and not allowing your mind to develop and learn from what it’s been fed.
If you truly want to write and not for the money or fame, then start small. Set real and achievable goals. Set a goal of writing three times a week, finishing one short story a month, editing someone else's work, or even writing one poem a week.
Rushing also puts too much pressure on something that should be enjoyable and fun. It should be fun! Now repeat it and don’t forget.
