awry...

Well, last night could have been better...

Not only did I not submit a single thing, but the 6 pages of this short story I've been excited to write for some time turned out terrible. I'll still keep what I've written, but I'll need to go back and horribly revise before I progress any further.

Then I sat down to wrote a few scenes from a sitcom (conceived of by my writing partner) and I churned out about 3 scenes and 11 pages, but I honestly don't know how funny it is. At least the story is advancing and we can go back and layer in the humor, I suppose.

It just goes to show that, if the writing isn't flowing that night, if you're not under a deadline (meaning, you're not pressured by legal action or threat of "stop payment"), well, don't force it; the results will not be good.

During those times I say: don't feel guilty! Stop writing! Do some reading! Play video games! Take a nap! Watch a movie! Call a friend on the phone!

Sure, you may feel like Johnny Depp's character Mort Rainey in Secret Window and you might feel as if you're procrastinating... but I think what you're doing is stunting bad writing and preserving the good writing you're supposed to do on another night.