Gentle Reader, when my students were at a loss for what to write, I used to tell them to ars poetica the heck out of it. That is to say, meta-writing, writing ABOUT writing. It was a successful strategy for getting words on a page and unsticking the stuck. And I realized, just a few minutes ago, that what I’m doing with these blog posts is exactly that: unsticking the stuck. I’m meta-writing–pondering about writing and the craft–in order to get words on the page/screen and really release myself from the sticky mire of writer’s block.
And it’s not even writer’s block, per se. I just hate, loathe, and despise everything I’ve ever written. And when I get to that point–that “woe am I” self-induced writing coma–I know it’s best to Walk Away.
Walking Away is strong advice, because it’s so permanent. It means to step free of the problem for a length of time and reflect, to let things marinate as they will. And I have realized that this blog is my ability to ars poetica the heck out of it while still walking away.
So what do I love about writing?
I love the world I create. The characters. How they live in my head and I can think, “that necklace is something she would love” or, “he would appreciate the hell out of this song.” The way my characters exist with me from day to day, week to week, even when I hate them, I love them.
Even when I hate writing, I love it.
I think I needed to write that sentence.
The Postmodern Bluestocking 