A to Z Challenge 2013

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Blog Chain - Challenge Yourself

It's blog chain time and guess who is starting off this round?  You'll never guess.  That's right, writer fans.  It's your friendly neighborhood Spider...er...I mean little ol' me.  So jump on the crazy train (queue Ozzy Osbourne music) and ponder these questions:

What do you find to be the most challenging aspect of being a writer?  What is your greatest reward from writing?

For me, the most challenging aspect is finding time to write and actually starting to write.  Once I get going and my fingers are typing away, I get lost in the story and everything flows pretty well.  But at the moment I'm juggling about a thousand different balls and writing is but one small part of that.  I haven't yet figured out a good way to balance them perfectly yet, but my life is a work in progress.  Hopefully with a happily ever after ending.

The greatest reward I get is when I'm in the groove, the words are just flowing along, and I feel like a writer.  Like when I look back at a particular phrase or scene and I can honestly say "Oh man, that's awesome."  That's when I really feel good about being a writer, when the words are dripping from my virtual pen like sweet honey straight off the comb - or like acid dripping from the fangs of a xenomorph.  It just depends on what I'm writing, though the latter is more fun.  Yeah baby, that's when all the planets are aligned and everything is good in my universe.

Now I'll pass the torch to the ever-awesome Michelle H., who should have her answer up tomorrow.  But feel free to tell me your thoughts in the comments.  What are your challenges and rewards where writing is concerned?

16 comments:

Cole Gibsen said...

Awesome topic! And you are so right about finding a good writing groove. It's a rush!

Sandra Ulbrich Almazan said...

You nailed both the challenges and the reward for me!

Matthew MacNish said...

The two hardest things for me are finding the time to do it, and having the courage to share it.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Challenging is time and being able to write as fast as my brain spits out ideas. Rewarding is reading something I wrote and thinking, wow, I wrote this? No way!

Kathryn Hupp-Harris said...

It's been a long time since I've found a good groove with my writing. I'm hoping I find it soon.

Margie Gelbwasser said...

Being in the groove is the best! Finding time to write can be a challenge but as long as you find it, wherever it is, you're good. :-)

Christine Fonseca said...

OOhhhh....I LOVE this question. Can't wait until Friday when I post. GREAT JOB

Eric said...

Cole - Thank you. I look forward to your response :)

Sandra - Funny how many of us are afflicted with this, huh?

Matthew - I completely how you feel, but if you find some people you can trust, put your stuff out there. It's very liberating and might help you feel better about sharing your writing.

Alex - It's kind of cool when you surprise yourself, huh? I like that feeling too.

Kat - I'm SO there! Hopefully it'll hit us both soon.

Margie - You are so right. Now if we could just figure out how to make that happen constantly, right?

Christine - Awesome! I can't wait to see how you respond.

Anonymous said...

Great question!

Time is definitely challenging, but when the words flow, it's all worth it!!

Shannon Morgan said...

Good one, Eric! Hope you're finding your writing groove these days.

Shaun Hutchinson said...

Great topic. I know what you mean about that groove. When you're in the zone, it's like magic, when you're not....well, we just keep trucking on, you'll find it again in no time.

Unknown said...

Being in a groove is such a great feeling. For me, it goes back to your challenge: it seems every time I hit a good groove life will throw something at me or the kids will start clamoring. *le sigh*

Great topic, Eric!

Kate Karyus Quinn said...

Finding time really is the eternal challenge isn't it? Really great question here!

Michelle McLean said...

I have so loved this topic :) Very fun to see what everyone considers their biggest challenges and rewards and to know that there are so many others out there that feel the exact way that I do :D Awesome chain!

B.J. Anderson said...

I have to agree, this is a great topic. And I, too, love that feeling of being a writer. Good luck with the happily ever after!

Amanda Bonilla said...

Great topic, Eric! I agree that it's pretty easy to get lost in a project when you love it! In fact, I burnt the bacon this morning because I was so wrapped up in revisions! ;)