RivalGates.com
  • Home
  • News
  • Quest
    • Prologue
    • Chapter 1
  • Crucible
    • Chapter 1
  • Revenge
    • Chapter 1
  • Blog
  • Buy

Have a thought? Add to the Blog.

Writing IS Work @Solsticepublish, @Solsticeshadows 

9/23/2014

0 Comments

 
It’s raining outside and when I lean back in my office chair something about the tilt of it or the room makes it swivel around to face the double windows.  I watch the cars drive by my house and splash the small puddles of water as they go.  A conga-like drum beat emanates from the eves trough and rushes out the end of the drain just on the other side of the wall.  It is a glorious day to work…on writing.  Many people have this belief that writing is not work.  While I do enjoy it and that certainly makes it far more entertaining than any other work to me, it is still taxing.  Writing makes me tired and feel spent when completed for the day.  That sounds like work.  Back in high school I remember having a heated debate with my physics teacher when he asked the question, “If you hold a dumbbell above your head, are you doing any work?”  Naturally I took the position that the person was in fact working and he was set to prove me wrong.  In the scientific community according to Answers.com, work is defined as, “work-applying a force to an object and the object moving in the direction the force is applied.”  Since the object was not moving, from a scientific perspective no work was being done.  I think a lot of people look at writing in the same way.  A writer does not leave the house or commute to a job.  There is no office or factory and the workday is not set in stone.  Paydays are irregular at best.  When someone asks you what you did today or whenever and your answer is, “I wrote” they look at you as though you took the day off or did nothing when you, in fact, accomplished quite a bit.  The dumbbell may not have moved but you are still awfully spent.  Webster’s has a broader view of work.  They define work as, “Activity in which one exerts strength or faculties to do or perform something:   a   :  sustained physical or mental effort to overcome obstacles and achieve an objective or result   b   :  the labor, task, or duty that is one's accustomed means of livelihood   c   :  a specific task, duty, function, or assignment often being a part or phase of some larger activity.”  In this example writing is given its due.  It is not a phenomenon isolated to writers.  Other artists feel the same disrespect.  It is different, though, with writers.  Most of the time people can’t look at what you’ve produced in a single day and measure your labor.  Instead, all they have to go on is your word that you worked very hard on a long project of which they can see no tangible results.  It makes you see how our livelihood is so disrespected from an effort point of view.  We live in a society where people act like you must EARN the right to be tired.  To do so you must be able to show proof of your work.  That is not always so easy for a writer.  I think that’s part of the reason so few people make it as writers.  You have to be strong enough to be able to say to yourself, “Hey, I worked my tail off on this today even though I only accomplished x amount.  I know I worked hard and that is enough for me.”  Now I think I’ll watch the rain again.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Fantasy fiction is my passion.  This series embodies my love for a good story and action.  You will find it to be many things, but not boring!  Read what you love and love what you read...

    Archives

    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.