Writer's frustration...

When it flows, it flows, but when it doesn't ... Arrrrgh!!!

Frustration can take all the joy out of writing. I know because it plagued me a lot recently. Actually since I started getting 50:50  critiques from my critter groups. If I get a lot of negative, I howl, but I know things have to change (really positive ones I generally have a hard time trusting, so I focus on negative ones). But if they are equally spread and comment on the same things with both, I have no clue from where to go. I fidget, rewrite and at last reverse everything. Don't get me wrong: I love to write and when the words are flowing, the moment feels magical. I never want to stop. This is a rare occurrence. Most days are filled with a stop and go rhythm. Now it's mostly stop and stare...

 

Expectations

I realize as a writer, you must remain aware of your expectations and emotions. When I hit a wall,  “me” still stresses out. I try to force it. Make a schedule, want to get my hours of writing in no matter what - and basically just waste TONS of time. I get up from my chair and clench my fists or let out a loud grunt. I used to believe that this would help me release my frustrations, but when I look back I realize that it only made me more upset. It wasn’t until I began to recognize these emotions as they bubbled to the surface that I am able to nip these feelings before they took over. It does take as much energy and focus as writing itself does though.
A writer creates frustration when they focus too much on their expectation of what they want to achieve instead of enjoying the words that are actually coming out. It all comes down to a simple emotional process. The gap between what we want and what we have is what really frustrates us.
It's not so much the uselessly staring at the screen - and switching to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter instead (those get regular updates right now lol)
More in the next post - I have a new pic for Insta ;)