Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Don't Sweat It...


So what do you think when you hear, "Don't sweat the small stuff?" How does that figure into your writing? Do you take it seriously in your daily life as well as your writing?

It took me several years to learn how to stop sweating over the small stuff. Seriously. I'm a worrier by nature. I used to fret and fume over the smallest of things. Especially after I had children. My firstborn got all the "proper" care. Meaning boiled bottles and nipples, sanitizing the hands of my friends so they could hold the baby. All that stuff. By the time my second child came along I just washed the bottles and nipples thoroughly in hot, soapy water, just checked to see that my friends weren't completely filthy and mellowed out quite a bit.

In writing, I've had to re-learn how to not sweat the small stuff. Making sure everything was perfect in the first draft, no typos, no grammatical errors, etc. It used to take me forever to write anything and get it done. I tell you what, now I just whip out the story (unless it blocks me somehow and I change it) and then move on to the corrections and stuff.

Now that I have found a balance in my writing and my daily life, I really don't sweat the small stuff.

4 comments:

Beth Zimmerman said...

Generally a wise way to approach life. I can see that it would work for writing too!

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Finding the equal librium does help I'm sure.

Yvonne.

Unknown said...

That's great you found a balance. I'm with you, life is too short to worry about the small stuff.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I often pause to consider a better phrasing or word, but I try to just write straight through on the first draft.