Author’s Reflection: A Retrospection

This blog has taught me a lot, and it’s not all something I can clearly articulate.

I’ve learned that it’s just as difficult as I thought to be inspired on a daily basis. There are days, like today, when the inspiration that I need to write something new and different enough from previous entries simply won’t come on strongly enough for me to write something with which I’m satisfied. Sometimes I sit here, staring at my computer, knowing that if I could just find the right start to the story, I could write it. I’ve been lucky enough that on most days, something eventually comes to me. Today, I’m operating on a more limited time schedule than normal, and no concept has found the right foothold in my mind for a proper genesis.

I’ve learned that my writing is going to vary in quality from day to day. I’ve learned, along with that, that I make a lot of mistakes when I’m writing something, and that most of what I’ve posted here needs much heavier editing than the time I’m able to give it with this schedule. When I first began, and for the majority of my time with this blog, I was writing a day ahead, and then editing in the morning before scheduling my entry to be posted. I fell behind last week, so I’ve only been writing and then posting, with no day of rest for the post to allow for me to edit it. I’m sure my entries have been full of embarrassing mistakes. I hope I can find the time to go through and do some editing at some point, but for now, I can only hope my readers will forgive the fact that most things I post here are to be taken as rough drafts.

I’ve learned that I have a very hard time writing things with happy endings, and an even harder time writing things that are happy throughout. At some point, I’m going to force myself to try writing something comedic, because in “real life” I’m not so bad at coming up with jokes and quips in regular conversation. Whenever I sit down to write, I feel like I can’t come up with something even resembling humor. I attempt to try a wide variety of formats and tones with what I post here, and humor is the next genre that’s outside of my current comfort zone.

I’ve learned that I get stuck in certain patterns, whether they be character voice, mood, sentence structure, or even plot as a whole. My mind has become accustomed to treading the same path over and over again. I see this as one of my primary failings: some of my characters are too similar to one another. Some of my plots are, as well. I’m hoping I can analyze this and come up with a solution.

I’ve been able to get past two things that have been hangups for me in writing for many years. I’ve long had trouble with actually finishing things that I’ve started, and the daily blog format, with its tight, defined schedule, has helped me with that immensely. I’ve also struggled for a long time with fearing that the things I write aren’t at the level of perfection at which I would like to see them. Well, I still fear that, but now, it’s not stopping me from continuing to write. I’ve learned that you don’t have to erase a fear in order to function despite it. My writing isn’t going to be flawless from the start, and that’s okay.

There aren’t a ton of you out there following along, but to those that are, thank you. I appreciate every single person that takes the time to check out what I’ve created for the day. Thank you for joining me as I continue this journey.