Tag Archives: Writing

Writing, Different Opinions, and Mental Health

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The past week has seen some differing developments.

I’ve been trying to work on the draft, having issues with following the outline(the damn story wants to go in other places), my head has been out of place and though I’ve been working on it it continuously wants to take me to other places.

I was able to have some fun this last weekend with my wife.

We celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary by going to a concert. It was the first time I’d been to concert since going sober and it was difficult.

I enjoyed the music, the complexity of the lights, the way the show progressed and being able to see the show without worrying about whether I’d wake up with a hangover.

I’ve been away from the blog for a few days because I needed a mental health break.

I’ve been working on doing a few things to improve things mentally and I had a breakthrough about it.

I wondered about a few things for a while and am still up in the air over them.

My opinions on my writing have changed and although I’ve struggled to get words on the page, most of what I’ve written has been good. Which I’m very happy with.

Life moves through us and we find that things aren’t what they seem. Sometimes we go through things in a way that leads us to where we want to go and other times we have to work at getting there harder than we thought we would.

This week has been one of those situations.

I’m good, just working through some shit. Trying to get my focus back, which has been lacking.

I’m bartending a lot more than usual and I’m trying to focus on my writing at the same time. This is harder than I thought it would be and while my focus has been off, I’ve been trying to get the words on the page so they make sense. I think I’ve done well on that part.

The story has been good and feels personal. I like the MC and where it’s going even if it trails off sometimes.

But I have to get things done before I head off to an event. I have five days this week, which will be great for the bank account.

Have a good mid-week.

Struggling to write and getting my focus back.

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Over the weekend my writing hit a snag.

I did good last week. I hit goals, even after I had to rewrite the opening to chapters.

Those rewrites were needed as the POV changed.

I was early in the drafting process and it felt stilted. I felt like the story wasn’t coming across the way I wanted it too. The MC(Main Character) wasn’t coming through in the ways I wanted him too.

I’d written a few thousand words at that point and decided the story was worth it. So I changed the POV. But that’s not why I hit snag.

The story went off script. I have a good outline but the story decided to go down another path.

There are parts of the story I’d forgotten to put in when I made the outline. Things that happen in the certain situation I’ve put these characters in. I had to go back and put them in the situation. It was a needed thing. I didn’t plan for this in the outline and now I feel like it’s taken on a life of its own.

I’m trying not to get frustrated but I’ve taken the last two days off from writing to think about the story. I have to consider the options in the story.

Do I go down one road, maybe it leads to something good, maybe not? Do I let the story go the direction it wants or do I rein it in?

It is a first draft and there will be a few other drafts afterwards and I think I’ll let the story run for a while. See where it goes. I can always eliminate the direction in a later draft if it takes me to dead end.

I’m tired of dead ends. It’s the reason I wrote a damn outline.

My focus has been on other things and I’m working to get it back on track. I haven’t been reading as much as usual and that leads me to dead ends.

Reading keeps me focused and I’m getting back to that.

Today, I’ll be getting back to those things and working on figuring this thing out.

I’ve also begun to do research reading for one of the topics for the project. It’s taking me in directions I’ve never thought of. It’s also heartbreaking to read some of it.

But I’ll leave that out.

Happy writing

The definition of happiness…

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For a long time I thought happiness meant the car, the house, the good job.

I stopped thinking that way a while ago.

For me happiness is seeing my wife and kids every day, during daylight hours, sitting and talking with my son and goofing off with him.

It’s my daughter telling me about her dolls, My Little Pony, and what she did in school.

It’s enjoying the things I took for granted.

I took my wife for granted. I expected she’d always be there. There were times when I think about it now, that I was an ass with her and if she’d have left I would’ve deserved it.

It’s about enjoying the life I have and not caring what others think about that life.

It’s about not caring what others think about your life. It’s what you think about it.

It’s taken me a long time to understand this.

I would rather have the life I have. The struggle to pay bills while I write. The late nights bartending, and the mornings where I know the day will be a struggle.

My life isn’t perfect but I love everything about it.

When it’s fun…

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With the passing days, word counts, and life, I find that in pushing harder to get where I want to be, I approach my goals.

I’m writing things that once terrified me.

And it’s not because I write horror.

It’s because the subject matter. The way it’s coming out is defiant of my former self.

I write to make people think.

I write because I love the terrifying parts of the stories.

I continue each day because of those little moments when I catch myself writing.

I’ll look back at the prose and think, “damn, that was good. Keep going like that.”

Those are the moments I relish.

You get to a point you watch your words and think it’s cool and I need to replicate that.

I enjoy writing most when that happens.

This week feels difficult…

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I don’t know whether it’s that I’m stressed and I won’t reach for a bottle or that I’m trying to immerse myself in the current project, but this week feels different. More difficult.

I’ve thought about this over the last week.

I started drafting on Thursday.

This week I’m fully invested in the project after doing the outline, character sketching, and all the other stuff it entails.

So, I’ve been sober for 1 month 25 days.

This is a full time thing. I don’t see myself drinking again.

I may bartend, but I’ll never drink alcohol again.

I used it as a crutch to deal with stress and life for so long it’s difficult to manage things without it.

Though I’m trying.