May 4 question - It's the best of times; it's the worst of times. What are your writer highs (the good times)? And what are your writer lows (the crappy times)?
Ooooh, I LOVE this question. I have a love/hate relationship with writing. I LOVE it when there is flow--when the right song is playing, when my plot is cued up, when the characters start to move on their own and I simply “record” what I’m seeing—those sublime times of blissful creativity where hours fly by like seconds.
The HATE part? It’s the relentlessness of ideas in my mind, like moths throwing themselves against a bug zapper, but my limited capacity to develop them. There are only so many ideas that can be written out, and yet the ideas don’t stop.
I hear about people who have a million kids, work full time, find time to exercise (and usually look gorgeous), and still pump out bestsellers every two days. That’s not me. I don’t multi-task. I get easily thrown off by the day-to-day stuff of life, like how my anxious rescue dogs startle easily and have high-pitched scream-barks that are like needles in my head, or dinner that must be made every night (“What? You want to eat AGAIN …?!!”), clothes washed, bills paid ….
My creative capital gets drained, and those moths flapping around don’t help. Even so, I wouldn’t change my creative life for anything.
I've never had kids occupying my time and I still can't put out a book but once every few years! - Alex J. Cavanaugh
You are reading my mind, Andrea! There is nothing better for a writer than being in the zone! And I have the same kind of bug-zapper brain - here, try this! Here, write this! Oh look, shiny new idea over here! I have designed book covers for more ideas than I could write in a lifetime. But honestly, it's part of the joy.
Lee Lowery www.leelowery.com