I'm still editing and revising my first printout and am getting anxiety over correcting my mistakes and adding revisions onto my original document. It seems that each time I look it over, I find a mistake I didn't see the last time I edited it. I have to admit typing isn't one of my best subjects :-)
I now feel I'm living the writer's life, however you may define that term. In this article, Erik Larsen, the author of Devil in the White City, gives his idea of the Top 10 Essentials to a Writer's Life. I follow most of these, except the coffee (not my thing!) I prefer caffeinated soda to get my daily rush on. I only eat Oreos every so often.
I rarely pulled all-nighters in college, even with all the papers I had to write. I could not stand the thought of little or no sleep. As such, I rarely faced a scenario like this from the Prozac Nation movie. And I used a computer in college :-) (I graduated in 1997!)
As I began typing my manuscript last month, I would sometimes find myself wide awake at night even when I had to be at work the next day. I typed as many chapters as I could each night. I could never be up late typing, or I may just fall over on my computer table in a way similar to the movie scene above.
My guess is that everyone defines the "writer's life" in their own way. Everyone has their own style and pace and time when they work best. All you have to do is write when you feel works best for you.
I just have this inkling of an idea that writers are as varied as people are varied in other professions. Coffee and oreos are popular with all kinds of folks. What I do think is similar is that passion which can best be displayed after a good night of sleep. lol. But I do tend to be very creative late at night.
ReplyDeleteThat is true--I work my novel writing in with my freelance writing, so I try to do at least a little each day. That seems to really add up over time. But I do miss that "fire" I'd get in the early days when I'd write 100 words in a weekend!
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