Sean’s article on Interruptions

Again Sean, not letting me down, gave me an article I find interesting and a different perspective of how interruptions affect our writing.  His internal battles were a refreshing twist to something I think all writers experience.

 The biggest distractions for writing for me come not from other people, but from my own insecurities. As I start to write something, whether it be a sentence, a scene, a piece of dialogue, I hear two sounds in my mind. You could almost call them voices. One is encouraging. One is not. On the days when the prospect of writing is more daunting, the cruel, mocking voice is far louder than any other. It whispers in my ear.

                           You can’t do this. You will fail. You won’t be able to finish this. Why did you just write that last sentence? That last scene lacked emotion. The first line of dialogue is unrealistic. No one’s going to believe this story.  

                           Fair to say, it can be quite distracting to listen to this voice. Then there is the other side of my mind, which is the more rational part. This side does not come out as often as I would like, though I am encouraged when it does. It also whispers in my ear.

                           You can do this. No, it’s not perfect, but you have time to make it better. Just keep on writing. Ignore everything else and focus on what matters. Just keep on writing.

                           However much I distrust this voice (how can something so nice be true?), it is the one I must listen to. Ultimately, there is no race. Writing takes time. It is a process that requires one to waste a large amount of paper, ink, and sanity writing garbage before an actual decent thought is constructed. It means sorting through the unused, dusted parts of the brain to find something worth telling. I believe I have something  that is personally worth exploring, worth telling. Whether or not anyone else thinks so is irrelevant. And because I would rather write than not write, I ignore the voices, the insecurities, the questions, the panic signals, the laughter (real or imagined) from others, the expectations, and just keep on writing.