What I Hate and Like About Writing

What I Hate and Like About Writing

My personal confession about what I hate and like about writing.

What I Hate About Writing

• Editing

The worst part of the writing process is editing. However, editing is the most vital part of the writing process. I find this the most painful part: when you reread every line and redraft, search for grammar errors and typos in your writing, repetition of thoughts, and overuse of material.

Additionally, changing word choices, finding fragmented sentences, verb and tense disagreements, and improper punctuation and odd sentence structures in your writing. The reorganization of the content of your paper and checking that you carry an idea to a conclusion without dropping it or overusing the point. The most painful part is seeing all your mistakes and how to fix them. When you have drafted something seventeen times, you begin to hate it.

Through many painful episodes, I have learned to put the writing aside for a few days and then edit it. If not, it becomes a highly emotional situation where you swear that you will never write again, and that your literary ambitions will never happen. You should become a machinic instead of a writer.

• Grammer

Grammer, why are you so mean to me? I never did anything to you but write. Grammer and I are not friends. Grammar is essential to being a writer and making sense to your readers.

However, I do not like grammar. It makes me work overtime for every sentence I write. I will not lie; as a young writer, I have read several grammar books and have grammar-checking on my computer. I cannot live without my grammar checkers and my grammar books. However, when you have to check everything you write twelve times for grammar errors, it gets old quickly. I have learned to see grammar as a wise mentor and, probably never a close friend in my writing process.

• Argument

I hate it when I cannot come up with an argument. It’s like I have a reason but no foundation. This experience is very frustrating. You know deep down you have something to write about. However, your pen cannot make it come out. You sit there and make circles around it. Never being able to articulate the concept on the page. This is when all the bad grammar fights back, and I find that my worst writing appears. Because all you are doing is writing nothing over again without a point. You can only redo everything you are writing and trash the old paper. Start afresh.

What I Like About Writing

• Inspiration

The ideal situation is when you feel inspired to write. In these situations, the words flow, and ideas overflow. I cannot stop writing, and it feels so right. The world feels alright, and you can write for hours on end. However, this does not happen very often. The painful part of being a writer is that you live by the schedule you set to write. If you do not have a regular schedule, it falls apart. I am writing a novel right now; some days, I feel inspired, but most days, I hate the project and get discouraged.

However, being a writer takes a lot of self-discipline and self-regulation. I have found that I write early in the morning for thirty minutes seven days a week. I get more work done than waiting for inspiration. Those thirty minutes can be excruciating; however, sometimes those thirty minutes are insufficient, and I will write for another hour. Inspiration is ideal for good writing.

• Creativity

I love to be creative. I enjoy doing many creative things. I love it when I can write creatively. I majored in English in College and loved and loved my creative writing class. It was an outlet for my creativity, and I found others who loved playing with language. Being creative on the page can be very fun and entertaining. I especially enjoy writing poetry for this reason. When you write poetry, you can be very creative with language, sound, rhymes, structures, and syntax. I really enjoy the ability poetry gives you to be creative. I also like how, in fiction, you can let your imagination build characters and worlds. It is fun to create your own fictional world. Creativity makes writing exciting and fun.

• When Everything Clicks

I like it when everything clicks. I love this feeling. It is worth the hard work of editing, rewriting, grammar checking, and reorganizing. All that stuff I hate about writing makes it click. When it clicks, you can let out a breath of relief. The weight has been lifted from your shoulders. The writing is complete, and you can sit back and relax.