My Writing Life: instant gratification

For most of my writing life I've written short articles and columns for magazines and newspapers. There's a lot of instant gratification in that. You write it. You finish it. You see it in print and go on to the next thing. Feels good.

Now that I'm working on a novel, everything is different. The writing goes on and on and on with no gratification in sight. The more I struggle with this, the more I realize how hooked I am at getting that feeling of accomplishment you get when you've completed something. Even writing a chapter can be long and onerous for a gratification junkie like myself. I've found it hard to keep going to the end of the first draft of the novel.

I've considered giving up on the novel but that is equally impossible. My spirits sink if I'm away from for any length of time. I guess that's what makes me a writer.

So now I just write scenes. I find I can write at least one complete scene in a sitting and feel very accomplished at the end of the day. Days when I can write two or more scenes are a bonus. Eventually I'll organize these into chapters but that is a task for the re-writing process. Right now I'm focused on completing that first draft -- one scene at a time.

It's working well for me so far. Wish me luck.