More on that last ...

Books on the subject of the craft of writing encourage one to write every day regardless of whether one feels like it or not.  In almost the same breath, the authors of these books sometimes seem to tell me that I must write with joy.

So my question is this: why would I destroy a story that is important to me by working on it as a matter of discipline at times and moments when I am not inspired and not writing with joy?

That said, it's no good to simply say, "well, I don't feel like writing today. I'm not inspired.  I'm supposed to write with joy. I have no joy today. Bullocks.  I won't write."  Yes, writers of books about the craft of writing, I understand this does not work either.  I understand that in order to improve my ability to write I must write every day whether I feel like it or not.

My solution to this is simple.  I will write as a discipline, but when I write as a discipline and for practice at times in which I am not prepared to write my "important" story I will write something else.  Voila.  "Get sufficient practice" meets "don't ruin my important story by working on it when I am so uninspired that any words I drag out of my fingers will sound stilted, silly, trite, boring, or all four of those combined and then some.

I could write random thoughts, short stories, flash fictions, scenes of potential stories, or borderline gibberish, if it is for the purpose of "writing every day."  I can also blog.

Hence another reason for this blog.

And now I have said that.

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