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writing conflicts
Jan. 24th, 2009 11:04 amI'd like to bitch about writing. It used to be much easier. It's not that I used to do it better, but at least I did it more often and it didn't feel like such a burden of work.
I've been writing for fun/fiction for 24 years at least, and professionally (as a reporter) for 15 years. As I've gone along in my career, I've been harassed by various editors to make it shorter, make it tighter, etc. At the same time, I used to be of the mind, for many years, that I couldn't go to bed until I'd written some form of fiction, crap or good.
I'm trying to figure out why I don't enjoy writing so much anymore. Description eludes me, so I can't "pad" as easily as I used to - well, if you're not going to pad with description, you have to come up with action or dialogue or plot, or a mixture of all three. These are not easy for me. (Plus, I find myself caring less about people's conflicts, the older I get. I see too many storylines that rely upon cluelessness and stupidity, and I can't handle it. I get impatient with those people enough in real life.) Plus I've lost much off my ambition over the last several years due to an illness that sucked and sucked and sucked at my energy because I had no health insurance and couldn't afford to get it treated. Now that I have the medication, I still don't feel much more ambitious.
Bah. Now you know why I have the end bit tacked onto my introduction to this journal. (Done bitching for now. At least about the writing. I'm just in a general low simmering rage about a lot these days. The last eight years of political shittery has contributed greatly, I expect, as well as the weather, where I live, how few people I know around here, and an indescribable ennui for which I have no discernible sourcepoint. BAH.)
I've been writing for fun/fiction for 24 years at least, and professionally (as a reporter) for 15 years. As I've gone along in my career, I've been harassed by various editors to make it shorter, make it tighter, etc. At the same time, I used to be of the mind, for many years, that I couldn't go to bed until I'd written some form of fiction, crap or good.
I'm trying to figure out why I don't enjoy writing so much anymore. Description eludes me, so I can't "pad" as easily as I used to - well, if you're not going to pad with description, you have to come up with action or dialogue or plot, or a mixture of all three. These are not easy for me. (Plus, I find myself caring less about people's conflicts, the older I get. I see too many storylines that rely upon cluelessness and stupidity, and I can't handle it. I get impatient with those people enough in real life.) Plus I've lost much off my ambition over the last several years due to an illness that sucked and sucked and sucked at my energy because I had no health insurance and couldn't afford to get it treated. Now that I have the medication, I still don't feel much more ambitious.
Bah. Now you know why I have the end bit tacked onto my introduction to this journal. (Done bitching for now. At least about the writing. I'm just in a general low simmering rage about a lot these days. The last eight years of political shittery has contributed greatly, I expect, as well as the weather, where I live, how few people I know around here, and an indescribable ennui for which I have no discernible sourcepoint. BAH.)
