Everything we do, whether it's writing, or life, is meant to be a challenge. We're not following a roadmap. We're creating one. Only we don't realize until much later we're mapping out a route for a trip we won't be going on again.
Think about it. Kindergarten wasn't anything like we'd experienced up to that point. Now it seems simple and easy, and boy, if only we could go back to those halcyon days. I remember going ahead of time to meet the kindergarten teacher, and I couldn't WAIT to start school. I was also scared, because I didn't know all those other kids, or what was expected of me. But I was definitely excited, and I eventually figured it all out, and then. . . I was nervous and keyed up about the next challenge.
Nothing is ever like you think it's going to be. College wasn't like high school, but I found my way through it and survived it, and I even enjoyed it. Law school wasn't ANYTHING like college, which was too bad, because I'd gotten pretty good at college.
Law school required me to switch gears entirely. It wasn't about memorizing and regurgitating. It was being browbeaten and humiliated in public with a series of questions DESIGNED to make you come up with the answer, but pretty much made you feel like the biggest idiot of all. Even the writing was completely different.
I'm having PTSD just thinking of it, so let's skip ahead.
It did teach me this: I have to be flexible and adaptable and willing to experience new things. Whenever you think you have it all figured out, congratulate yourself, and then prepare for the next batch of uncertainty. I now know how to do all kinds of things I didn't know how to do before. And I'm pretty sure I won't be doing any of them again. Where's the fun in that?
Writing is the same way. Each book challenges me, making me cry out, "Why aren't you acting like the last one?! I finally figured out how to do that story!"
So, that's my pep talk for today. It's a reminder to myself, when I get dispirited, wondering why life seems so crazy and unpredictable and, on some days, unbearably hard. It always has been. It's just hard in different ways, in new ways, ways that punch me in the head and force me to figure out solutions when I don't feel like I have anything to draw on.
I never knew how to do anything when I first tried it. So why did I expect that I'd be good at it right off the bat? Okay, laziness makes us want to do something good without practicing, but laziness is one short step away from sloth, which is just down the road from burnout. All of these things that make us want to tear our hair out are experiences we will treasure one day.
I won't proclaim, "Adversity is good for you", because then you'll run after me with pitchforks and blazing torches.
Let's just say we'll benefit from these moments when things seem tougher than we are. It will give us empathy as well as courage, the very things we admire in characters we read and write about.
It will also make us ready for the next challenge down the road.
Wherever it takes us.
Well, they say to keep the brain working well as you age, it's best to challenge it with new problems. Somehow, I seem to do that to it regularly... So different is good!
Posted by: Maureen | June 13, 2011 at 01:02 PM
I hadn't thought about the "keeping sharp" aspect of it, but you're so right. It's mental exercise. :) So our brains can't get flabby. LOL
Posted by: Donna Cummings | June 13, 2011 at 01:50 PM
So true about new challenges being a different kind of hard! If someone asked me what writing project has been the toughest, I'd say it's the one I'm working on now. It seems true for everything else in life too.
I've noticed that too about thinking the new writing project should be easier since it's been done before. To use your map analogy, flexibility sure helps for creating different routes when we find out that the straight path on the old map now has a shopping mall in the way! LOL
Posted by: Melissa | June 13, 2011 at 05:55 PM
Melissa, I have a theory. . .LOL I always have a theory, and I may have said this a zillion times before, but I think our brain subconsciously chooses a story that's a little bit outside our skillset. So the story we're working on will ALWAYS be the most challenging one!
And I love your addition to the map analogy. :) We need a writing GPS sometimes, don't we? I think flexibility, and adaptability, are the keys to success, writing and otherwise.
Posted by: Donna Cummings | June 13, 2011 at 06:19 PM
I can always tell when I need to push the learning envelope because I just start to get restless after a while with no mental anguish. I don't mean anguish really. Just - you know. Growth. I start dreaming up new things to try. I guess I'm looking to challenge myself in new ways.
Posted by: Kari Marie | June 13, 2011 at 08:03 PM
Kari Marie, restless is a good description. I don't think our bodies or our brains are comfortable staying in the same spot for too long, so we get pushed into doing something that makes us grow. It seems like it would be nice to stay still, but I think we like the challenges. :)
Posted by: Donna Cummings | June 13, 2011 at 08:53 PM
To get good at anything, you have to practice. Writing is no different, even though it seems like it sometimes.
And, girlfriend, law school?! I have friends who went to law school and, from what I've heard, that kind of training is akin to boot camp. Go, you!
Posted by: Liz Fichera | June 16, 2011 at 10:41 AM
Liz, you're right about practice, and thank goodness my characters entertain me, so it doesn't FEEL like practice. Not exactly.
Law school was not fun. LOL It was so long ago though, that I've kind of forgotten how unfun it was. It didn't kill me, so I guess it made me stronger. Or more stubborn!
Posted by: Donna Cummings | June 16, 2011 at 10:50 AM