The Insecure Writer’s Support Group
Ooh, she may be weary, young girls they do get weary…
I’m dating myself with a song reference from Three Dog
Night. It was a big hit in 1969, and is actually on my “car” playlist. Is it
because I get weary? Probably.
There’s a good kind of weary you get when you play hard, or
even work hard at something you enjoy. It’s the kind of weary that makes you
happy and grateful. You fall into bed at the end of the day with a smile on
your face.
But there’s a different kind of weary, the kind you get when
confronted by the worst of life. Funerals, divorce, illness, friendships gone
awry, betrayal. There’s not a lot to cure that kind of weary, only time.
We’ve all been on both sides and when bad things happen, and
we’re searching for answers, I think we forgot one important thing. We forget
to be kind to ourselves. Instead, we blame ourselves and try to push through
being weary to do more.
It’s nearly impossible to write your best prose when
weariness sets in. Sure, some people can really tap into how bad they feel and
spew it all over the page. It’s not something I like to read so I don’t do it.
If I’m exhausted, I try a little tenderness on myself.
I’m not afraid to turn off the computer and rest. When I
need it, I take time to get my head back on straight. I’ve learned that if I
want to write a good story, I’ve got to take care of myself. And I learned it
the hard way when my husband had cancer, so I’m not just pontificating.
It’s important to me to do the best I can on each story.
I’ve found that if I stay tapped in to how I’m feeling, I write better. I plot
better. I set the scene better. It really pains me to spend an evening writing
only to have to go back the next night and delete what I wrote. It doesn’t happen
often because I’ve learned an important truth - weary doesn’t make for a good
writer.
Rayne
www.twitter.com/rayneforrest
Thanks! I needed to hear someone say this out loud. Maybe it'll stop me feeling so guilty for taking time off from my writing.
ReplyDeleteI think writing through tough times can help, but it's often a different kind of writing than what you do in your daily life. If you have something you're supposed to be working on and all you can think about is something that's bothering you, sometimes writing that out can help you heal and get back to the work you should be doing. Sometimes you just need to step away and take a break, though.
ReplyDeleteThat's so true. We need to recognize true weariness and take time to rest. Our writing is better for it, and our lives are better for it.
ReplyDeleteSometimes that's the best idea. When we're drained and beat up, we aren't going to produce anything worthwhile. Time to take it easy on ourselves.
ReplyDelete