When I first conceived of this post, I wanted to talk about how writing was like riding a bike because of momentum: Once you start, you just keep going.
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that writing is like riding a bike in many ways including (but not limited to)…
- You can stop for a while but maintain the ability
- It’s typically a solo pursuit but can, occasionally, be a group activity
- During rough patches, staying upright can feel like a literal battle
And, I’m sure, many others.
Specifically, though, I do want to hone in on my original thought about momentum.
Due to life, other projects, and (honestly) a lack of interest because I was at a terrible stuck point when I last put down the book I was revising, I haven’t written much of anything in months. I was reworking the beginning books of a nine-book series, for which I have the first seven written. (Yes, I know, “ambitious” doesn’t even begin to cover it.) Without spoiling or getting too lost in the weeds, my team of superheroes are infiltrating the big-bad’s stronghold, and the logistics are even a little much for my logistically minded engineer-type character who loves the nitty-gritty of making details come together. After more starts and stops than I could count, I finally got annoyed, put it down, and walked away.
Then, a few months later, an idea came to me. It simplified things and matched the tone of the story. It was different from everything else I’d come up with, and while it didn’t require all the details to line up perfectly, it worked. (And, really, the book is meant to poke fun at the superhero genre, so a bit of ridiculousness is fine.)
Despite this revelation, however, I still didn’t open the file or do anything until this past weekend.
When I moved a chapter further toward the end of the book and dropped nearly 1000 words in under ten minutes.
After months of nothing, I was off to the writer races. Once I started, the momentum was just there.
Much like riding a bike. (It’s almost like that’s related to the title of this post…)
When I graduated from grad school, I would have been one of the first and loudest people to say that serious writers write every day, and people who didn’t write every day were going to fall behind. Please excuse my naivety. I was young and didn’t understand that one size did not fit all.
Now, however, I have a much broader definition of a “serious writer.” It’s anyone who writes seriously toward whatever goal they have, publication or otherwise. And every day or otherwise. Ideally, would it be awesome to put down at least a few hundred words each day? Yeah, absolutely. But if you need to take a day or week or, heck, stretch of months off from a project, that’s okay. That doesn’t make you any less of a writer or any less serious about your goals.
And when you’re ready to get going again, your bike (manuscript) will be there waiting for you. (Side Note: I tried valiantly to combine the words “bike” and “manuscript” and got nothing that sounded like something I wanted to post to the internet.)
(Other Side Note: In case you need proof, I opened my story document to double-check how many words I wrote the other day and was inspired to put down another 400.)
👋 Fair travels,
Mary
P.S. A big thanks to Pamjpat from pixabay.com for the image.
