on (not) being a writer

I think I’ve just figured something out, though I’m not sure it will make as much sense outside my head. I don’t think of myself as a writer, though I do write occasionally (blog posts or tech stuff nearly every day, but other things occasionally). Every once in a while, an idea comes pounding to be let out, and so I do release it onto paper or onto the screen. Once the initial flow is done, though, and it’s time to write more or revise, my attitude is usually, “Oohh, I don’t wanna! Do I hafta?” and so mostly I don’t. This is despite the fact that I kind of enjoy it when I get started, at least sometimes.

My attitude toward erging or rowing  is much the same. But I do think of myself as a rower, and so I do hafta, and I force myself to sit down on the erg or in the boat and get started. Sometimes it’s horrible all the way through, but often it’s not bad or even enjoyable once I start. Because I don’t identify as a writer, I don’t force myself to do that.

To follow the analogy further, when I’ve been training for distance, as I am now, it gets a lot easier and more routine to get on the erg and do the distance every day. I get to the point where a 9km piece is just no big deal, because I’ve done that much the day before and more the day before that. I think, if I were ever to take writing seriously, the same would be true there.

(The corollary is that for me, if I were blocked, the “shitty first draft” method would probably work – just anything to get started.)

Oh, and welcome to my new site 🙂