Random Rambling: Creative Struggles
I have started and abandoned three different posts. If there comes a point when I am writing and I am just not feeling it anymore, I find it best to cut my losses and delete it rather than try to find some way to salvage it.
This happens for many reasons; writer's block is the main culprit. This past week, though, I have been creatively drained, and even if I had written the most incredible piece of fiction since "The Great Gatsby," I would have thought it sucked and deleted it.
It could have been that I had an emotionally challenging week at work or that Rory was in Rochester with my parents. It could have been a combination of both or a billion other reasons, but I wasn't feeling the least bit creative. And I hate that. I am not getting paid to write every week; I do this for fun. This is my way to destress. When I started "Escape" all those years ago, it was my way of dealing with being fired from a job. Pouring all I felt into those characters, that story, and those words was a cathartic experience. It helped me deal with an extremely low point in my life.
That is why I do this. During the hard weeks, it's critical for me to open up that blank document and start writing. I have said it before, and I'll say it again: my best pieces of writing come from a place of pain. Or at least start there. "Escape" is the perfect example. I loved what I wrote when I was at my lowest, but I have added to it over the years from highs as much as lows and am proud of what it has turned into (so much so that I keep trying my damndest to find the time to add to it).
Well, that was kind of a downer, so I will leave you with this.
This past weekend, my parents came up, and we went to "Hamilton." During the performance, I remembered something. Years ago, I was walking to the bus after work and listening to music. The song "It's Quiet Up Town" from "Hamilton" came on, and that was followed by "Everything Comes Down to Poo" from the musical episode of "Scrubs." For those unfamiliar, I went from a song about dealing with the grief of losing a child to a song about checking..well, you know, to get a medical diagnosis.
