on writing avoidance

The hardest part of writing for me is getting started.

Not just at the beginning of the project, but every single day. It feels so great when I finally sit down and do it, get involved in the work and let my imagination go. But that near-euphoria never seems to factor in to how incredibly hard it is to drag myself back to it.

I don't know why that is.

I realized today that I'm the same way with vegetables, though. I love vegetables. They're so delicious and I feel so much better when I'm eating right. But if there's any other choice to be had, I will have it instead.

At least I know the writing thing is common. There's the cliche of the writer who says their house had never been so clean until they started trying to write (and thereby trying to avoid it). There's a quote that goes, "I don't like to write. I like to have written." I thought it was Dorothy Parker, but it turns out it's not. It's no less sharp or wise.