Writing

Lessons I've Learned from This Month's MindSprocket Piece:

I like to make fun of people who say that writing is akin to a mystical process. I like believe that writing is more a question of discipline than inspiration. Maybe most of the time that's true, but sometimes, all the discipline in the world won't save you without that spark of inspiration to make your story work. I poured so much time and thought into the first piece I was working on, but for some reason, I just couldn't become engaged with the characters or what they were doing.

In a last ditch effort to meet deadline, I loaded up my CD player with my favorite Irish/folk music and locked myself away with my sister's obsolete laptop. (If you can't even connect to the internet, resisting the tempatation to use it is much easier, ha.) And then I just started writing. The music wove its way in and out of my consciousness and then in and out of my story. I think it's going to be a great piece when it's revised. I'm actually excited about my characters and their lives this time, and I care about what happens to them.

Oh, and I've learned that writing good fiction is even harder than I initially thought it was. But now that I've got something cooking, I'm curious to see what else I can do. ;)

And in other news, happy Trinity Sunday. :)