As of late, my personal writing has taken a bit of a backseat to my every day life. For a while, I told myself that things were all right, since I was doing a lot of writing for work. And for a time, that was enough. I saw my writing improve, and my {professional, at least} style change and evolve for the better.
The past few months, though, things have stagnated. I told myself it was because I'd been sick, gone through some personal struggles, and started a new job. I made excused. Now I'm afraid that I'm just not a writer anymore. You would think that someone who feels "called to the profession" would use any part of the day to write - whether it be short journal entries, character ideas, pages of dialogue, or just a to-do list.
But I don't.
That's not entirely true. I write to-do lists at work, and I send upwards of 15 emails a day. I write notes back and forth with friends on Facebook, and every once in a great while, I'll write a quick journal entry.
This isn't enough, though. I'm no longer progressing like I was. In fact, I've begun to feel like my ability to wordsmith is tarnishing. And I need to start polishing it up.
I'd like to finish this lament about how I'm going to set a bunch of goals, buy a new notebook, and set out 8 hours a day just to write. But I won't do that. Setting my sights so high will only cause me to fail even harder when I can't live up to these ridiculous expectations.
Instead, I'm acknowledging that I'm not yet where I want to be, and reminding myself that I'm not so far gone that I should give up hope on a dream I've had forever.
Maybe I'll set some goals. I'll probably set some goals. But I'm going to take it slow. And maybe, in a little while, I'll have some words worth sharing.
The past few months, though, things have stagnated. I told myself it was because I'd been sick, gone through some personal struggles, and started a new job. I made excused. Now I'm afraid that I'm just not a writer anymore. You would think that someone who feels "called to the profession" would use any part of the day to write - whether it be short journal entries, character ideas, pages of dialogue, or just a to-do list.
But I don't.
That's not entirely true. I write to-do lists at work, and I send upwards of 15 emails a day. I write notes back and forth with friends on Facebook, and every once in a great while, I'll write a quick journal entry.
This isn't enough, though. I'm no longer progressing like I was. In fact, I've begun to feel like my ability to wordsmith is tarnishing. And I need to start polishing it up.
I'd like to finish this lament about how I'm going to set a bunch of goals, buy a new notebook, and set out 8 hours a day just to write. But I won't do that. Setting my sights so high will only cause me to fail even harder when I can't live up to these ridiculous expectations.
Instead, I'm acknowledging that I'm not yet where I want to be, and reminding myself that I'm not so far gone that I should give up hope on a dream I've had forever.
Maybe I'll set some goals. I'll probably set some goals. But I'm going to take it slow. And maybe, in a little while, I'll have some words worth sharing.
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