I\u2019ve found that in writing these little segments of the email, I learn to appreciate the random little things more. I take note of things more. Sometimes I think, \u201cOoh, there\u2019s something I could write about!\u201d Sometimes after sitting and staring at a blinking cursor for a few minutes, my brain produces something, and I run with it. Or an idea clobbers me in the face with a metaphorical chair when I\u2019m trying to sleep (thus, Monday night: in which I slept from 2:30-7:30 am\u2026though that was more my brain being weird) or I\u2019m writing a position paper. I\u2019ll wander around, washing the dishes or whatever I\u2019m doing, phrasing the way I want to say things in my head. I plan these a surprising amount because I sort of have to. Whether I\u2019ve thought up an idea or not, I need to write something, so it\u2019s a lot easier to plan something in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This concept, planning<\/em>, is not something that carries over into my fiction writing, unfortunately. Instead, I\u2019ll have a will-o\u2019-the-wisp of an idea and decide to knead it into a story. It needs time to expand in my head. It needs reworking. Then it needs the fire\u2014the actual effort of transforming a scatterbrained idea into words on a page. Thus, I will have moments mid-writing session that look like this: \u201cOhhh<\/em>! That\u2019s why Aevri is so upset! Because of something that happened in her childhood! It all makes sense now!\u201d (True story. Not the character part, the discovery.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am a die-hard pantser. What is a pantser, you ask? It\u2019s a writing term for certain type of writer. There are plotters: pretty self-explanatory. They plot out their story, sometimes down to the chapter and sometimes just the general three-act structure. And then there are pantsers. That is a contraction for fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants writers. We sort of just write and see where the seat of our pants takes us. In my opinion, it is way more fun for me to write when I don\u2019t know exactly what\u2019s going to happen. I\u2019m just as surprised at the plot twists and character development as the characters themselves are. However, the downfall is that when writer\u2019s block hits, it hits hard.<\/em> I also have no clue where I\u2019m going to end up about 60% of the time, something that is probably evident here. I sort of ramble on and then tie it together in a haphazard bow at the end. But that is also my style. I wouldn\u2019t be me<\/em> if I planned out every chapter of a novel, or every Secretary\u2019s Corner for the next six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s really easy for me to compare myself to others, in a lot of ways, but particularly when it comes to writing. It\u2019s a pretty niche hobby, so there\u2019s less variety across the board. I\u2019m trying to improve, which is good, but it also means I look at authors who are extraordinarily prolific, to the point of publishing six books<\/em> in one<\/em> year, which is insane. It takes me two to three months to write a rough draft! But that is their style. Not mine. I cannot compare myself to that, because by that standard, I will never be a real writer. And that is simply not true. Yes, there are rules and expectations in writing. \u201cShow, don\u2019t tell,\u201d \u201cnever end a chapter with sleeping,\u201d \u201cnever use -ly adverbs,\u201d \u201cdon\u2019t make the book or the chapters too long,\u201d all sorts of random things. But there are authors who break all the rules and are still some of the most well-loved authors of all time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All in all, comparison will never take me, or anyone else, anywhere. It will only dig me into a chasm of self-pity and doubt. So instead of focusing on how I compare to others, I should be focused on Jesus and what He thinks of me. His opinion is perfect and worth more than anything on this earth could ever amount to. So I\u2019ll focus on Jesus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve found that in writing these little segments of the email, I learn to appreciate the random little things more. I take note of things more. Sometimes I think, \u201cOoh, there\u2019s something I could write about!\u201d Sometimes after sitting and staring at a blinking cursor for a few minutes…<\/p>\n