To Write Or Not To Write...That Is NEVER The Question

I plan to do absolutely nothing to optimize my life for the better. I'm just kidding. I'm actually doing a lot of things to help improve myself. In fact, one of the things I'm doing right now is listening to Lose Yourself by Eminem while I'm writing this…but that has nothing to do with improving my life unless you count it as a motivation song to help me write (it's a pretty inspiring song).

One of the things that I'm actually trying to improve on is my writing. The most significant goal that I've had before the pandemic started was to complete a full-length sci-fiction novel. By staying at home most of the time for the past year, you'd think that it would be a piece of cake to finish writing a novel, but it's actually quite the opposite. By being at home most of the time, I've actually had many distractions that have derailed me from my overall goal. After a year of writing, I'm disappointed to say that I've only finished about 6,000 words on my novel. I'm nowhere near finishing my novel, considering that most sci-fi novels are around 100,000 words in length.

Although I'm still very far away from my goal, I'm not giving up, and I will continue to write. One of the things that I've implemented to help me achieve my mighty goal is writing down a plan of how to accomplish writing 100,000 words. I basically listed down various dates and an estimated number of words that I plan to write by each date. I intend to write approximately 250 words or so every day for my novel on my plan of action. With this game plan mapped out, I should be able to finish the rough draft of my full-length sci-fi novel by the beginning of next year (I'm crossing my fingers).

Another method for helping me achieve my goal is by writing stories and articles on Vocal. By writing and submitting my work for various Vocal challenges, I also improve my writing skills at the same time. Not only does this action strengthen my writing, but it also keeps my writing momentum up and also motivates me because I get a slight sense of gratification from completing a story.

I honestly don't know why I'm trying to finish this novel, considering that I'm not that good at writing and that I'm one of the world's slowest writers. I think, on average right now, it takes me about 2 hours to write 250 words about anything (yes, I'm slow at typing also).

Throughout my entire life, I've struggled to write. In fact, when I was in the ninth grade, my English teacher had an earnest one-on-one discussion with me about my writing. Everyone in my class had to write a full-page essay about what we did during the summer. We were given months to complete our paper, and we each did multiple drafts (a rough draft, a second draft, a third draft, and a final draft). After months of writing that essay, I only managed to write nine sentences. Yes, you read that right—just NINE sentences. My essay basically had three sentences each in my first, second, and final paragraphs. My English teacher basically told me that I was writing at a third-grade level, which is pretty humiliating considering that I was in high school.

I'd like to say that I've improved a lot on my writing skills since the ninth grade, but I still have a great deal to improve on. By writing consistently every day, I hope to one day finish my science fiction novel. It might not be that great of a story, but it's something I know I must write down and finish for the world to see. Wish me luck.