Reminders are Precious: I am a Writer
Feb 23rd, 2008 by Carlos
On Monday M and I watched one of her favorite movies: The Notebook. I had seen it with her before but it was a while ago and I went into it with the attitude that I was watching it because she really likes it.
It’s a fantastic movie—the kind that gets you so emotionally worked up it feels like you’ve just gotten punched in the stomach, which I love. My favorite movies are the kind that make you cry or turn you into an emotional mess inside: Gladiator, Requiem for a Dream, Memento, etc. What The Notebook did for me was to remind me (again) that I love to write fiction and that it’s something I need to make time for and dedicate myself to actively—otherwise I’ll wake up in 20 years and think to myself, “Yeah, I wrote every now and then, but that was a long time ago.”
The financial part of this site has engulfed me and my new job has taken up a lot of my time because I want to do it right and do it well. But I still see myself as a writer and I have a folder with over 100 rejections in it to prove it. Sometimes we need small reminders to get us going. With exercise, sometimes we need to set resolutions. For financial goals, we need to see the overall picture (or think of a retirement with not enough money) to spur us into action. For writing, movies, books, and magazine subscriptions remind me why I love to write and to keep on doing it no matter what.
I used to get up in the mornings and go to this coffee shop across the street with just a pen, a book, and some paper. I’d stay there for just under two hours and just write. If I wasn’t in a writing mood, I’d read my book or that month’s PW magazine. It was a great routine—one that made me feel good and gave me a set time blocked off just to write and actually started with my wanting to complete NaNoWriMo.
Now I get up and go straight to the computer, with it’s endless supply of distractions. Why? For this site. I want to have new material on here as much as I can and it takes up quite a bit of time. I’ve also been trying to work out more often, so that means that when I get some writing ahead of time, I’m going to the gym on the days I don’t write before going to work.
That leaves no time for regular writing, or writing at all, since I haven’t written since we moved to our new place. I guess the good thing is that I’m realizing it now instead of 20 years from now, so I have plenty of time to fix it. The bad thing is I don’t see myself letting up on the work I’m doing on this site so I have to figure out a way to not just write, but to make it a part of my routine again.
