1. When your friends want to go out on a writing day.
You’ve told yourself all week, “Tuesday, I am going to write and get stuff done!”. You stuck by these ideas as you sat around on Sunday and Monday, binge watching a show on Netflix, and crying over "The Bachelorette." But Tuesday... Tuesday was going to be your day. Then, of course, you get a text from your friends, (who somehow still exist) and Tuesday becomes the “let’s go shopping and get some dinner” day. Um, don’t they know that you have to finish the chapter or you’ll never get anything done?
2. When you accidentally shift tenses in the middle of your draft.
This probably sounds horrifying on its own, but then realization sets in… When exactly did you shift tenses? Then you begin to panic. Did I shift tenses PAGES ago? Then you have to go back into your draft and check everything to see where you went wrong. AND THEN YOU HAVE TO CORRECT EVERYTHING. The number of times I have done this to myself is sickening. Having to correct myself in that manner has been a massive killer of all of my writer vibes. Do I hate myself afterward? Much so.
3. When you get that idea and you have nothing to write on.
Being that we all have a Note app of sorts on our phone, this struggle has gone down over the years. However, I remember little writer me (before my first phone) having the best ideas ever on long car rides, and having to store all those ideas in my tiny head because I did not have any paper or pens. This struggle plagued me for years, even after my many phones, mainly because I wasn’t logical enough to realize I could easily store all of my ideas in my Notes app. Or hey, maybe I am still a sucker for a classic pen and paper. I prefer to believe in the latter of the two.
4. When you haven’t seen sunlight in about three days or so.
Hey, sometimes this happens to the best of us. Our only responsibility is to write (pfft, when does this happen) and we lock ourselves in a room and get to it. We don’t look at the clock which is slowly ticking away at our lives. We don’t even care to open up the windows and even look outside. All we need are a blanket, a cup of coffee (or two) (or three) (maybe four), and something to write with. Eventually, you’ll get called out as a hermit by someone close to you, (or maybe a random) and force yourself outside of the comfort of your home.
5. When you do leave the house…
You spend the entire day thinking about what you could be writing. Ah shit. Jackie and Nathaniel could have had the best date in this cafe. This park would make for the perfect setting! Basically, either way you choose, you cannot win.
6. When you can never decide if you wanna write or read.
Sometimes, the decision isn't so easy. You have the hottest New York Times Bestseller on your bedside (and the entire Harry Potter series, in case you want to reread, of course), but your laptop on your lap. The Pages document is open and blank, but the book is calling your name. Do you want to make progress, or be caught up in your reading? In my personal experience, I usually choose to do nothing, and either end up binging YouTube videos or just going to sleep.
7. When you finally finish your draft, and you can’t let go.
Post-Draft Depression (trademark me — I better get the credit for this) is real and it stings. You spend countless hours writing about these characters, their lives, and everything about them. Then suddenly *poof* they are no longer in your life, and are no longer your puppets to string. Their lives are no longer your’s to watch, no longer your’s to control. I think that’s the hardest part for us manipulative writers: losing control. But hey, that’s what sequels are for.
