Writing is not the easiest thing in the world by any means. I’m sure I’m not the only person who gets a little anxious just thinking about sitting down and devoting time to it, which is probably why my personal work usually takes a while. And I’m probably not the only person who finds it hard to focus after getting past said anxiety.
Distractions are a pretty huge deterrent in the writing process. For instance, I’m trying really hard not to comment on the high chance North Korea is going to attack Guam so I can write about distractions instead. Doing a great job so far, right? Right.
For me at least, sitting down, focusing, and writing gets me thinking which inadvertently gets me thinking about things I’d rather not. So about 30 seconds into writing, the idea of logging out of reality and checking social media or playing video games or literally anything else is really appealing. Honestly, and this is probably just because I just finished reading Ready Player One, it feels like we’re heading down a road on which reality really won’t be as appealing as something virtual.
But, in essence, I think the root of my problem is that it’s starting to feel like work. Like a chore. I really love writing. And I love knowing that the things I have to say mean something to someone. I enjoy what I do. But I enjoy all the escapes from reality we have access to now. Maybe that’s why I feel so distracted. Maybe it’s not that it feels like work, but that it’s something that requires a certain level of commitment. One thing that I’ve definitely strayed away from as of late.
I used to have a dedicated time slot every day that was devoted to writing. But after a series of events that I’d rather not talk about, I’m down to one day a week, which is hit or miss most of the time. That’s why I’m fortunate I was convinced to start this blog. It’s great to educate/entertain but it’s also helping me ease myself back to where I was. I still don’t write as much as I probably should, as much as I talk about it anyway, but progress is progress. And I’m still trying to teach myself that learning from other works of fiction is just as important as creating my own.
I could honestly lose myself in a good movie or series on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, or any of the other hundred different streaming services for practically forever. But that’s just it. Those fictitious recounts of magic, technology, science, or even just an extraordinarily ordinary story are sometimes just better than reality. And that’s why writing my own stories matters so much to me. If I need that escape every once in a while then surely someone else must too.
mack rogers writes 