Mini Posts: 3 Things
Three things I wish someone would have told me before I started writing:
1. It's hard. Like, really, really hard. Sometimes you'll want to pull out your hair. Other times (like a lot), you'll want to quit. And when you want to quit, you'll call yourself a fool because you can't imagine not writing, which means the cycle continues, round and round until you don't know your own thoughts from the voices in your head. It's pretty cool.
2. Everything is a distraction. All those wonderful things you love about life: family, hobbies, exercise, free time, well, it's all distracting. Sometimes it's distracting to where you wish none of it existed, and then you feel guilty about feeling that way, but you keep feeling that way until you don't know if it's really guilt or just what you think you should feel. Follow me?
3. It's not healthy. Okay, the embracing of one's imagination and living any life I could ever want to live. Those are cool. Super-duper cool. By unhealthy, I mean physically. It's mentally and emotionally draining. And one has to work twice as hard to stay in decent shape because there is a lot of sitting and reading and more sitting, so you have to find extra time somewhere for more physical activity, and you have to watch what you eat (which is tough when you love to cook) even more than before because of all the sitting and reading.
Would I have started writing even if I had known what I know now? You bet! Writing is awesome. Plus, books are magical, so it's worth every moment of angst and joy.
