I have taken a break from writing in the past few weeks. I
have a tendency to write in waves. My last wave lasted from November through
April, so I am pretty well spent now. Lately, I’ve spent most of my free time
doing character sketches (will post as soon as I amount the gumption to scan
them) and have just begun work on actually drawing out my graphic novel.
I’ve spent countless hours in the past two weeks on Pinterest, storyboarding my finished and not-yet-started projects. Lately, many bizarre ideas and themes have come to me about possible stories, and I wrote them down (because otherwise I’d never remember them). The way I figure it, when I’m 50 (or 40 or 30) I may run out of ideas, so I’ll collect them now while I have them.
I usually spend time thinking about my stories through the day, between tasks, during walks, and while waiting for sleep. However, recently, my thoughts have been jumbled and flighty, jumping from one story to another. This is probably due to my spending so much time graphing various stories on Pinterest, so now I must train myself out of it.
I have never undertaken the creation of a graphic novel
before, due to the sheer amount of work involved and the fact that I have
trouble drawing with consistency. That is why I’ve been spending the past few
months drawing constantly. I am better than I was, but am by no means perfect.
If-when I finish this graphic novel, I hope to distribute it
between my family and friends. I have no intention of trying to publish it,
except perhaps openly online for anyone to read. I have the first volume (of
six) planned out and written, so now all I have to do is draw about sixty pages
and color them.
There are moments when I wonder why I had to decide to be a
writer. “God (or whoever else I ought to be complaining to), why couldn’t you
make me something straightforward and simple? Is there anything straightforward
and simple?”
Admittedly, I have been putting off getting into writing
again, at least a little. (I have also been putting off picking up French horn
again so that I’m ready for auditions, but that’s another story.) Writing comes
in cycles (at least for me):
- write hard for a while
- burn out
- delve into other activities without even thinking about stories
- start thinking about stories again
- reread/ lightly edit former projects
- tack a little more writing onto the ends of unfinished drafts
- dive back into writing
I’ve spent countless hours in the past two weeks on Pinterest, storyboarding my finished and not-yet-started projects. Lately, many bizarre ideas and themes have come to me about possible stories, and I wrote them down (because otherwise I’d never remember them). The way I figure it, when I’m 50 (or 40 or 30) I may run out of ideas, so I’ll collect them now while I have them.
I usually spend time thinking about my stories through the day, between tasks, during walks, and while waiting for sleep. However, recently, my thoughts have been jumbled and flighty, jumping from one story to another. This is probably due to my spending so much time graphing various stories on Pinterest, so now I must train myself out of it.
Now, nearly every
paragraph here began with the word ‘I’, or some variation thereof, so I will
close thus: When you get sick of writing for a while, don’t be scared, just go
with the flow. Listen to yourself. People need breaks from almost everything.
Take it easy and don’t fret. Love of writing doesn’t leave permanently,
although it sometimes goes asleep for a while.
Happy writing,
Zoë
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