Okay, sorry I didn't write for a couple of days--just too much going on this weekend...
So, I've read a couple of blogs by fellow writers and several times now have found that they complain of their writing, what a slog it is to write anything, how their thoughts are unimaginative, etc. I wonder why they feel the need to express all this in their blogs--are they hoping for sympathy from their followers?
All this got me to thinking about the difference between a groove and a rut.
The slang definitions of a groove are "a very pleasurable experience." Or "a settled, humdrum routine; rut."
And the definition of a rut is "a fixed and usually boring routine."
Now, those writers who keep complaining about the staleness of their work are in a rut. Nothing works for them and they are in a mode of self-doubt, stuck with their wheels spinning like so many cars have been this winter with all the storms we've experienced.
The writers who are working steadily on various projects are in a groove-writing is a pleasurable experience. They are sailing along with the top down with a crisp clean blue sky overhead, a favorite tune on the radio, with the open road stretching limitless ahead of them.
I am somewhere in the middle right now, not quite in a groove, but no where near a rut. I think it's because when I get stuck on something I'm working on, I just switch to another project and let the one that was bugging me simmer by itself for a bit. It eventually calls to me again and I go back to it with fresh ideas and a better sense of direction.
Writers are bound to fall into both categories at different times; it's part of the whole process, I think. The only thing you can do in either scenario is hold on tight and keep on writing. Either you'll pull out of the rut and regain smooth ground or eventually touch back down to ground once you worn out that groove.
I've always been interested in how nearly every writer I've ever known hates writing. Given an imperative like, "Write for an hour every day" they come up with thousands of reasons why this is impossible. Ron Carlson has an entire chapter about keeping your butt in the chair, not getting up to make coffee or walk the dog. Steve Almond talks about writing as torture. The only way to get my bathroom cleaned is to write. Conferences are given on Writer's Block.
ReplyDeleteI can't think of another activity people do - voluntarily - that they hate so much. Kids hate their piano lessons, but musicians love to play, actors act their entire lives, painters go through canvases at an incredible rate (or paint over them if they can't afford new ones). Web designers make up websites and games just for fun.
So what is it with writers? No one's forcing us to do this. There are far FAR easier ways to earn money, for those lucky enough to make a living, or supplement a living, at it. Yet we all hate writing. We do, however, love having written, and I guess that's the draw. It's like childbirth: the labor is worth the end result. But the moaning and groaning is part of the culture, I think.
Actually, a lot of musicians hate to play, a lot of painters hate to paint, a lot of dancers hate to dance. Art doesn't equal fun, but that doesn't mean one isn't driven to continue.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments--I know art doesn't always equal fun, but deep down there must be some fun involved or we would all give up as the drive has to be sustained by something other than the need to see one's words in print--for my self, I find writing the pleasurable side of things, it's the endless revising where I lose momentum and begin to despair--this is not true for many artists though, ones I have heard speak at UMF who say the rewriting process is the pleasure but the writing is like trying to move a boulder with a teaspoon. I guess in the end, it is all about individuality and what makes one person crazy brings joy to another.
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