In the past year, I've done a whole lot less creative writing than I'd like to admit. Between writing my Honours thesis, staying on top of the coursework, moving houses, editing for the student magazine, and working, I've barely had spare time to write. Not to mention enough energy. I have legitimately been wishing for days to have more than 24 hours in them over the past year.
I'm hoping this lack of time to write will be alleviated now that uni is over. I've now handed in my thesis and my final essay, so the coursework is done. I'm tying up loose ends with the student magazine before I part ways with it (so emotional), which means I'm not going to have anything to do in the way of editing, except where my own work is concerned.
My job at the library is continuing on a casual basis, which is nice. I enjoy working there. My dilemma at the moment is whether to look for some casual/part-time editing work to fit around it, or to spend that extra time on my own projects, at least for a little while. Both, would be nice, but perhaps not with immediacy. It would be nice to relax and have a little time for myself, though I definitely don't want to be away from the editing scene for too long. Let's face it—that's where my heart is on the professional side of the coin.
Most of the writing I've produced this year has been academic, and I am damn proud of the thesis I produced. I'm not done with academia just yet, but I'll elaborate on that in another post. Aside from essays and a thesis, most of the rest of my writing this year has been articles and nonfiction. Most of it is also under a pseudonym. There was one exception to all the non-creative writing very early in the year, where I stayed up til 3AM to crank out a short story that wouldn't get out of my head. I was proud of it, redrafted it a couple of times and submitted it to a lit journal who rejected it and got back to me with some really good constructive feedback that I'm hoping to use to redraft again. But I miss working on long-form fiction. I want to get back to revising WALLS or one of the other manuscripts I finished back in high school. Maybe my head is clear enough now.
How do you get back into the swing of things?
Bonnee.
How do you get back into the swing of things?
Bonnee.
Posts
Congrats on finishing your thesis. That's huge! Enjoy getting into creative writing again. That's my favorite thing.
ReplyDeleteI'm a good editor, but I don't really enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteMore power to you!
As a creative writing type, I want to say "Work on your own projects!" On the other hand, if editing is where your heart is, "Get back to it!"
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm not writing, I'm a career counselor. (Not)
And to try to answer your question, when I'm out of the swing, it usually takes me a day or two of just pushing myself to get going again. The tough part is overcoming that resistance that comes from doing nothing.
Donna: thanks! Hoping to rediscover why it's my favourite thing too.
ReplyDeleteAndrew: I don't feel I'm so good at it when it comes to my own writing--very blind to my own shortcomings as a writer until someone else points it out.
Jeff: I don't know I don't know I don't know! I think I'll just have to make time to sit down and make myself produce something to break back into it. Thank you as ever :)
With all that going on you'll have done brilliantly to come up with any creative writing! Maybe a short break to relax is exactly what you need ?
ReplyDeleteDeadlines. Deadlines are what get me into any swing. The pressure is very helpful.
ReplyDelete