3 Reasons Why I Hate Writing

There are so many reasons to hate writing, but I will only name three things here.

​Writing can be so complicated, especially when you want to take it steps further to set up a blog, or write a novel. And it gets even more complicated when writing is something that you are meant to do, something you’ve been doing all your life and you can’t get away from it. Either way, we all have those reasons and here are mine…

The Voices (characters of my stories) can be so infuriating; they don’t listen to me – EVER. I set up an outline of how I want things to go in their story and instead of following it and making it easy, they change their mind and follow some other path that obviously leads to something much more difficult and into the world of something dangerous or evil or both. They start talking to me at the most inappropriate times.

• When I’m about to go to sleep.
• In the shower.
• As I’m driving.
• When I’m out in public.

It never is when I’m sitting down at my desk with a pen and paper in hand. That’s when they go quiet and I really want to write. That’s when they are hiding.

Not only is it the fact that my voices pick the most inopportune time, but there is the whole fact that I can hear voices at all. I’m sure most writers understand this, because I have spoken to others that hear the voices as well. They nag you until you actually start writing their story. Or if a specific scene is meant to happen, they put images in your head and tell you to write NOW. It doesn’t go away until it has been written.
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And although, these voices are in my head, making me write; I usually don’t mind them. This reminds that I can tell stories, and each time I have that dream or hear that nagging voice: I know that means that I’ll have a new story to tell. That makes me happy.

My Imagination is just as equal to my five year old son’s imagination, as if hearing voices didn't give that away. We are both always creating something either together or separate. Ideas are always rolling throughout the house to either build a new toy out of Legos, to make a new something out of construction paper, or watching some new DIY video on YouTube. Then on top of that, he likes to create his own games and as he does that, I’m adding onto them, and then we are playing something off the wall.

Creativity and imagination are something I hold dear, but sometimes knowing that you have just eagerly created a game that involves imaginary creatures, walls – with a starting and ending point in this game; joining in with the five year old’s own thought… it can be a bit much sometimes. However that is how I have come up with certain scenes in the books I have written; so it isn’t all bad.

I proofread EVERYTHING. Things that I send, even a text, and even those that are sent to me. I’m glad they don’t offer an option of a red pen on the phones, because I would be correcting things all the time. My eyes catch those things without even meaning to. I attempt to read and re-read everything. Even menus at restaurants, websites that I visit – everything. I can’t help myself and I wish that it would shut off, but that is a burden of a writer. Your mind is always on. Possibly worlds away, but if words are put in front of you; your mind is caught in that moment. ‘SSSHHHH don’t interrupt me as I read this long text and mentally correct each misspelled word and make faces at the misplaced word, or the missing period. SSSSHHHH just SSSSHHH let me edit. I’ll be with you in a moment.’

It’s hard to function as a writer sometimes, and only other writers would ever understand that. We try to join in with all conversations but sometimes the voices in our heads are just too much and we must write NOW. We’d really like to contribute to this really interesting discussion; however I have just settled the moment for when my main character is going to really fall in love with her destined true love – or that the bad guy is going to strike. I can see it now and I must grab whatever is close to me and write down everything that I see and hear.

Although, no one can really complain, because in the end it is these stories that we are picking up and reading and losing ourselves in. Getting lost in a new world, a new love, or a new villain. Without us being just a wee bit crazy, we wouldn’t be able to sit down and get these stories out for everyone else. So, there are sacrifices we have to make, but for us it’s life. It’s fun, and entertaining at ALL times.