I find myself to be genuinely kind and good-natured, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have my faults. Behind this façade of do-goodery is a tangle of human imperfections, imperfections that I’ve only recently begun to notice greatly affect me as a writer. I think it’s safe to say that no one’s perfect, we all have some less than desirable qualities, but understanding how your personality shapes your writing style and habits will help you hone your craft. Be accepting of your faults, but don’t succumb to them.
I. Impatience (Lust)
This first one isn’t very obvious to some and I had to really think on how to articulate its effect on my writing. I’m not a very patient person. I like getting to the good parts of a story. Skimming over long descriptions, I sometimes find myself skipping whole chapters just to pick up the storyline of a character I really enjoy (though I always go back of course). This impatient desire to know what’s going to happen next is particularity troublesome when working on my own novels. I’m always getting ahead of myself, anxious to reveal the interesting plot points or awesome characters that got me invested in the story in the first place. I find it difficult to write what happens in between.
Sometimes my desire to get to a certain part of the story is so great that I don’t find myself writing anything at all. I can’t think of what’s going to happen next because I’m so preoccupied with what’s going to happen in ten chapters. I get frustrated when I can’t link my thoughts together, and end up leaving the project unfinished to start another whose ideas have captured my attention.
When things don’t come together as easily as you thought they would, it can be quite disheartening, especially if you know that the story has real potential. Even if we all hope to achieve it, success isn’t made over night… well at least not for most of us. I’ve tried lots of writing tricks to get over this insatiable desire to get ahead: write out the idea that’s on my mind, outline the story between plot points, work out character motivations to figure where they’ll take the story, but it’s not as easy as it seems. It took me a while to realize that impatience is something that must first be corrected in oneself; I need to become a more patient person in my day-to-day life. After all, it’s not like I stop being a writer when I leave my desk, it’s also a part of who I am.
But I’m starting to realize that this whole process may take some time… and we all know how impatient I can be.
fearfulfantasist 