"No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money."
-- Samuel Johnson
I'm starting to accumulate partially-written posts that I set aside for one reason or another. Sometimes I didn't know what I wanted to say. Sometimes I knew what I wanted to say, but decided it wasn't interesting enough to write about. This being a typically self-indulgent blog, I don't give a moment's consideration to whether it would be interesting to read, but I need to find the writing at least mildly entertaining. Sometimes I'd be chugging away on something and I'd think, 'Nah. This is starting to feel like work.' And I'd stop. Hey. I can do that.
When I had a regular day job, waiting for inspiration to strike wasn't an option. If I felt inspired (not very likely, considering the subject matter), I would write. If I didn't feel inspired, I would write anyway. That's what writers do.
I don't think I ever would've said I love to write. My situation was better summarized by a quote I took from Linda Ellerbee, which she attributed to her grandmother:
"If you don't read, you can't write, and if you can't write, you must work for a living."For me, writing always beat working for a living.
I'm not a writer anymore. I'm a retired person. I don't need to write. If I feel like writing, I do. If I'm not inspired, I don't have to. I'm accumulating partially-finished blog posts, but that's OK. I may come back and finish some of them. Others may never see the light of an LCD display, and that's OK too.
While I'm nattering on about inspiration, I should make it clear that I'm talking only about being on the receiving end, myself. If you're looking to be uplifted and inspired, keep looking. This is not the place for you. I'm not good at it. Plenty of bloggers strive to be inspirational, and do it much better than I. If you need inspiration, try one of them.
While I'm writing about what I don't write about, I could add that I don't blog about MS symptoms, either, unless I have them, or MS treatments, unless I'm taking them. There are plenty of websites that do a much better job of that than I would.
At this point, I could go back and try to figure out what I was writing about. But that would start to feel like work.
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hahahaha, I so hear ya. I have so many WIPs I'm working on, my blog is a mess really. I just can't focus on it and my schedule at the retirement home is so strict---I barely see my partner, my blog is, "If I get to it" and what to write that I haven't already covered? So many MS blogs now than when I started. Mine is slowly becoming obsolete. Too little time for stuff now. I used to stay uo unti 1-3am writing, now bed bt 10:30 sharp. Up at 5am sharp. Naps necessary for 8 full hrs. Today cleaning lady comes for an hour, you get the picture. And reading other blogs!?? WHEN?? (I'm trying now, but too many) BTW, I loved reading this post. I relate.
ReplyDeleteI have slacked off on the blogging big time the past year or so. I really do have reasons that are not excuses just the way it is. But, why should I really give a rats tail I do it for me. Most of the time I just write and do not post it public.
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of info blogs around I find myself reading the more personal ones most.
I love whippet stories!
I enjoy your "self-indulgent" blog, er, musings. And, yeah, I have a whole bunch of half-way done posts. That's partially why I took a break. I've got plenty of opinions but trying to organize my yammering into something understandable was feeling like too much work.
ReplyDeletePlease stop over to my blog and pick up your award.
ReplyDeletePeace,
Muff
I enjoy blogging and reading other's blogs, but I am a believer of "Blogging Without Obligation". Blog when, how, and about what you want to :)
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Karen
Or to paraphrase the greatest of all wordsmiths, "to blog or not to blog, that is the question ..." :)
ReplyDeleteCaregivingly Yours,
Patrick