Writing about Writing

[rowyn]

Ah, the urge to write. I don't really want to write like this, however. I want to write ... more than this. I want to write fiction. I don't know exactly what. I've many stories I could work on. I could start something brand-new. But instead, I find myself paralyzed by a curious indecision, as if I don't know what to say, or don't know how to get there. As if I'm afraid to open up that file, to look upon words that have gone before, or upon the perfection of blank white space. I don't know why I want to write some new fiction so badly, yet cannot persuade myself to take even the first steps toward doing so.

Comments

[rowyn]

I find that getting online to a MUCK or a chat client is almost a sure-fire way to ensure I get nothing done. One of the reasons I don't just connect-and-idle to Sinai any more is that it was too distracting. I could easily spend a whole evening yakking and web-browsing, without ever focusing enough to write something coherent. That's why I prefer to do my brainstorming via email instead of by live chat. Though when I'm *really* stumped and can't get *anywhere*, it's definitely useful to chat about it. But if I'm just sort of in the doldrums about it, talk more often distracts me than anything else, even if it is talk about my current project.

But, yeah, I definitely agree about being able to share the product with someone who cares. One reason I'm doing so much more writing in Unfinished Tales than I have in the past several years is that I have an audience. OK, not a huge audience, but still, it's a pretty vocal little group. I bet I get more feedback than the average webcartoonist with a couple hundred readers. ;)