I Love Writing #WriterlyWednesdays 35

Welcome to my blog for another Writerly Wednesday. Today I'm going to share something very fundamental to me: the fact I love writing and why. I hope you enjoy.

I Love Writing

Writing:

• is hard
• takes dedication
• is often a thankless task
• will eat our every waking thought and sometimes the sleeping ones too
• & sometimes makes other people think we're nuts

But, fellow authors, we love it, don't we?!

No writer I know just writes because they fancied trying it - at least, not the ones who keep at it. We write because we love to create ... and a lot of the time because we'd go completely nuts if we didn't. I know the voices in my head would never shut up if I didn't write them down.

Writing has several stages:

1. planning and research (sometimes included during step 2)
2. writing
3. editing
4. rewriting.

Different writers find more or less joy in different parts. 

• Some of us love the initial planning where all the ideas start to come, 
• Some love the actual turning their ideas into words. 
• Others relish in pulling their manuscript apart to make it great, with or without the help of an editor. 
• And some, I'm sure, enjoy the challenge of the rewrite to get all the new edits smoothly into the book.

Personally I love the writing part (I don't do much planning before I start) and I enjoy rewriting as well. I find rewriting much easier than the initial writing and sometimes it can be a lot of fun to make the pertinent changes. To make something better always feels good. Occasionally rewrites also lead to moments of genius and things about our own characters we never even knew.

What is your favourite stage of writing?

As I mentioned, writing is hard, but I find it gives back so much and I assume we must all find this, at least when we're not tearing our hair out trying to get from plot point A to plot point B with argumentative characters and a universe that want to give far too many details all at the same time.

They say reading expands the mind, but so does writing. I retweeted a link yesterday about daydreaming being part of a writer's job (https://t.co/U7blnZ0ZoF) and it is. Sometimes just sitting and wondering is the best thing we can do.

A writer is never not writing, even if they don't have a pen in their hand or a keyboard under their fingers. We spend our days with our heads full of ideas. Some of the places a writer may find inspiration are:

• just before going to sleep
• just after waking up
• in the shower
• on the bus
• driving to work (this can be problematic when you realise you have reached your destination and have no idea what the journey was like - best avoided unless stuck in traffic :))
• watching TV (either we want to fix plots or know we could do it better or ... well you get the idea)
• just walking
• basically anywhere.

That person sitting in the cafe staring into space might actually be a writer;  you never know.

Where is your favourite place to daydream?

When I am writing I am free. My mind can go anywhere, do anything. Sometimes it feels like every word takes hours of work, at others words come so fast typing seems too slow.

But it is always rewarding.

Of course the best thing of all, ever, if someone reading my writing and enjoying it. I cannot explain how happy this makes me feel and I suspect most of us writers are the same. Some claim they write only for themselves, but I know it's the sharing that makes me love it too.

To all the writers out there, thank you, you make the world a richer place.

To all the readers out there, thank you, you make all the struggles worth while with one kind word.

Writers, never give up what you love. Sometimes it feels like an uphill struggle, but it's worth it in the end. I wish you all luck, because it never hurts to have some, and stamina. We can do this crazy thing called writing.