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queenoftheskiesDo people that really HATE writing do it anyway?
I'm not talking about people who are COMPELLED to write, who HAVE to write, for whom writing is like breathing, those who would die if they didn't write.
Why do some people just think that they're better than others and do it for attention because they think everyone will raise them to god status, all the while complaining about it and ranting about it and being in absolute misery?
Writing is hard. Of course it's hard...especially if you want to get it right.
Writing as about REWRITING. Nobody--NOBODY--gets it right the first time. But, that's okay, because we love it...right? And, we understand that we get as many chances as it takes to get it right.
But, we do it because we love it...possibly more than anything in the entire universe...other than our families, of course. And we couldn't live without it.
So, why are there occasionally people that think it all has to be right the first time? People who don't enjoy it...in fact, HATE it, if they have to rewrite? HATE even the writing of a first draft.
I guess I don't understand why attention would be worth making yourself completely miserable, you know?
(And, no, this has nothing to do with anyone published or aspiring to be published or on any workshops. It was just something I was discussing with someone tonight...and, no, not someone who hated writing.)
EDIT: I know that, occasionally, even people who love to write have off days and feel like writing is a lot of work and even temporarily hate the fact that they need to get it done. I also know this post probably sounds odd, but it was pretty much for the benefit of someone on my FL, who was wondering about this, too...and there was this person that just...could only talk about HATING writing. So...feel free to ignore this if it doesn't make sense. Okay?
I'm not talking about people who are COMPELLED to write, who HAVE to write, for whom writing is like breathing, those who would die if they didn't write.
Why do some people just think that they're better than others and do it for attention because they think everyone will raise them to god status, all the while complaining about it and ranting about it and being in absolute misery?
Writing is hard. Of course it's hard...especially if you want to get it right.
Writing as about REWRITING. Nobody--NOBODY--gets it right the first time. But, that's okay, because we love it...right? And, we understand that we get as many chances as it takes to get it right.
But, we do it because we love it...possibly more than anything in the entire universe...other than our families, of course. And we couldn't live without it.
So, why are there occasionally people that think it all has to be right the first time? People who don't enjoy it...in fact, HATE it, if they have to rewrite? HATE even the writing of a first draft.
I guess I don't understand why attention would be worth making yourself completely miserable, you know?
(And, no, this has nothing to do with anyone published or aspiring to be published or on any workshops. It was just something I was discussing with someone tonight...and, no, not someone who hated writing.)
EDIT: I know that, occasionally, even people who love to write have off days and feel like writing is a lot of work and even temporarily hate the fact that they need to get it done. I also know this post probably sounds odd, but it was pretty much for the benefit of someone on my FL, who was wondering about this, too...and there was this person that just...could only talk about HATING writing. So...feel free to ignore this if it doesn't make sense. Okay?
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I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 05:37 am (UTC)(And yes, I know you weren't talking about me. But I do hate writing. Except when I like it, and I can never know ahead of time which it's going to be.)
Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 05:41 am (UTC)You know?
Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 05:43 am (UTC)But sometimes people buy them laptops, I hear.
Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 05:47 am (UTC)So, you're telling me that they write to get attention and GIFTS???
Wow, I guess they're allowed to hate it if it gets them laptops, huh?
Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 05:51 am (UTC)Cassie Clair, who wrote the very funny LotR Very Secret Diaries, apparently had her laptop stolen. And her fans...apparently chipped in and bought her a new laptop. This is the rumor as I heard it.
Now, I don't know enough about Cassie Clair to know if she whines about writing; I've only read the one thing of hers. I DO know plenty of BNFs whose life is enless angst over their writerly burdens. I do not know if any of them have been bought laptops; perhaps if they were, they'd whine less. *shrug*
Dude, I totally want
minionsfans who will buy ME a laptop.Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 05:54 am (UTC)I just could not, for the life of me, understand why anyone would do something that they HATED so very, very much...with a passion, it seemed.
Life is too short. Except for work--which thank god I have FINALLY been able to do something about--I would never do something I hated so much.
Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 05:55 am (UTC)Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 05:55 am (UTC)I'll be your minion if you'll be mine.
And, I like your icon.
Let's go conquer Earth.
Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 05:57 am (UTC)Which should totally be my superhero identity. I want a costume now.
Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 05:57 am (UTC)(Thank you, thank you to peoples who gave me paid LJ!!!!!)
Fancy.
Yes?
Like my website background?
No?
Yes?
Would that work here?
Or should I save that for my other LJ?
Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 05:58 am (UTC)Let's go conquer Earth.
Neither of us has to be Goldar, right? 'Cause monkey breath, eww.
Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 05:59 am (UTC)It would probably be skimpy, though, cause...you know...path of least resistance.
Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 06:00 am (UTC)Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 06:01 am (UTC)Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 06:05 am (UTC)No, Goldar gets to sit this one out.
Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 06:06 am (UTC)Yes, I like my gold. You understand why I like my gold.
Cool! THANK YOU!
Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 06:07 am (UTC)Sis, I think it's late. I think we left our brains at the door, or something.
Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 06:07 am (UTC)Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 06:08 am (UTC)Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 06:09 am (UTC)::punches you::
Guess you're right.
::laughs at OMG HYSTERICAL joke::
Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 06:15 am (UTC)Time to sleep.
Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 06:16 am (UTC)Fries the brain, you know.
I still love your alien brain icon.
Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 06:18 am (UTC)Me go sleep now.
Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 06:20 am (UTC)::pokes it with a stick::
::stick catches fire::
Night, Sis.
Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 06:21 am (UTC)Re: I hate writing. I like having written.
Date: 2006-06-05 06:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-05 12:07 pm (UTC)And a few years ago.
Um.
Some people write because once upon a time someone told them they were good at writing and they have An Idea.
I'm good at math, however, I do not feel the desire to do it.
I get bugged a lot because I'm pretty good at drawing, and I don't HATE doing it, but I don't feel passionate. But I'm good at it! So I must do it!
Um. No.
It's human nature to complain. It gives people one more thing to complain about, and feel like they can whine meaningfully because they are all tortured and pained and what-have-you.
(My brain can't come up with anything more coherent than that right now. Especially since I don't do thinks I don't like doing for very long. I've only got one life I know about for sure, and I ain't going to spend it doing things other people think I should be doing :))
no subject
Date: 2006-06-05 04:47 pm (UTC)But I can't not write. I've had words coming out of me since I was a kid, and while they've slowed and staggered over the years, they still insist at times on assembling themselves into fictional form and calling themselves a "story."
I hate the process of TRYING to rewrite/revise with the flaming passion of a thousand blazing supernovas. Now, in my putative defense, my brain is miswired so that, once something is on paper, it seems to set itself in concrete and is very resistant to being changed. It's hard for me to see how it can be changed, even if I know it MUST be. I can add things, switch a word or two... but performing the gutting rewrites that some stories require are just beyond me. That's why I endlessly fuss each part of a story before I move on to the next, becaue I know I'll never be able to fix it later. I have a completed draft of a fanfic novella that's been languishing on my hard drive for 2 1/2 years now. When I hit problems in the initial writing of it I said, "Okay, I'll fix it later," plunged on... and have been unable to "see" how to integrate the necessary changes. Ouch.
(Also, when I'm "done" with something, I'm DONE with it. I don't want to work on the final fiddly bits that would fully complete it. I'm the same way with my other creative hobbies: I finish a crochet project yet don't bother to weave in the loose ends of yarn; I cross my last stitch in counted-thread and ignore the backstitching that will finish it up. A very bad way to be, but....)
When I finally do finish writing something, and it's the way I want it to be - the way it resonated in my head.... THAT I'm proud of. That's what keeps me writing despite the frequent hatred of the process: the buzz of looking at something and saying, "Hey, I did that!" I created something out of nothing, and not everyone can do that.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-05 05:38 pm (UTC)bingo.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-05 06:25 pm (UTC)It seems like hate-filled writing would be more of a torture and a punishment than an inability to stop writing.
I can't stop writing. I will always write. I've always written. Sometimes, I'm sad when I don't think I'm good enough to be published professionally, but I never hate the writing. I just struggle to learn and grow and be better.
I think everything can be learned. I think one of the biggest abilities that must be learned in writing is editing and revising. I don't think they come naturally to any of us because our human nature makes us want to love what we create as a part of us. If we think our creations are flawed, that could make us think we're flawed as well.
But, that's NOT the case. We can, in fact, create something so much more powerful if we create it in layers...the first layer being the story itself. It also enables us to finish what we write and write with enthusiasm and spontaneity and a great love for what we've created.
But, anything that makes us miserable, anything that we inherently HATE hardly seems good for us, hardly seems nurturing to the creative spirit.
I love writing but do find it harder to rewrite.......
Date: 2006-06-05 11:47 pm (UTC)