L.A. Garnett – Author

I’ll be the first one to tell you – writing is hard. It’s a mental exercise that you never quite get used to. The moment you feel comfortable with your work another idea barrels in to challenge you and then you feel like you’re right back where you started. Looking back at older work can remind us that we have grown in our craft and that we have, in fact, learned and made progress; still, there’s always more to learn.

This difficulty plays a huge role in why creating a consistent writing practice can be so challenging. People have a natural resistence to things that are hard – sometimes, we just want to give our brains a break. Part of being a creator, though, is making sure that we continue forward, even when we don’t want to.

I struggle with this! You can see from this blog that my writing isn’t always consistent. I try to maintain my creative writing throughout the week but life just finds a way of, well, getting in the way. Every time I sit down at my computer something else pops up – laundry to fold, a dog to walk, a baby to feed and play with – and it is all just as, or more, important in that moment than my writing.

The task I’ve set for myself is to create the time and protect it. Right now, that means getting up early and getting it done, or staying up after everyone has gone to bed to type out a few paragraphs that came to mind during the day. It’s slow process, and it isn’t perfect, but it’s working for me where I am in my life right now. Maybe someday I’ll be able to spend more time with my imaginary worlds – I look forward to it! Until then, I just need to take a moment every day to sort out my priorities and get as much done as I can.

What’s your creative process?