Writing Wednesday

This Zinnia has nothing to do with writing. It's just pretty. Picture taken at the Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor.

It's been a while since I did a post about writing. I've written a lot about reading. Reading is supposed to be helpful and encouraged for an aspiring writer but I've been ignoring writing. I always have plenty of excuses. Kids are home for the summer. I have a toddler. I'm not getting enough sleep to think clearly. But plenty of other writers have lives way more hectic than mine and manage to write and publish. My excuses are lame. 

As usual, I've been thinking about writing a lot this summer. I've written down several novel ideas. Looked at some of my poetry to see if it is any good and started rereading my first NaNoWriMo novel that is over 70,000 words but still not finished. Writing, it turns out, is much like every other creative thing I do. Once I get close to finishing something or get to a boring part I want to move on. Start something new. Knitters call it startitis. Some people call it procrastination. It's basically how I live my life and it can be pretty frustrating sometimes. 

I've gotten better about forcing myself to do the chores I dislike (such as cleaning the bathroom) because no one else will. I can force myself to knit sleeves... usually. And I can get fabric ironed and cut for a quilt if the music is loud enough and the kids aren't around. But force myself to write? I haven't been able to do that yet outside of NaNoWriMo. I keep thinking I need to be inspired but who goes to work everyday inspired? If this is my job, I need to write. 

But write what? I could rewrite "Lucy". Finish writing that first NaNoWriMo novel. I could polish and submit some of my poetry. Or I could start something new. All of those options scared me. 

And then I received the fortune above. "A good time to start something new". How's that for an answer? So starting something new is exactly what I'm going to do. I've been playing with an idea and expanding on it for a month. I'm almost ready to start writing. I need to do a little more brainstorming but I have some idea of the direction the story will go. I've never written a novel outside of NaNoWriMo before and I'm a little nervous but excited. It will be nice to give the novel the time it needs and not feel rushed. I can waste a day rereading and tinkering what I've written because there is no deadline at the end of the month. I'm looking forward to this challenge. And if I decide I'd rather be doing something else, I have plenty of other options waiting for me.