360 or 180?

Writing a book may not seem all that hard to do, but I am certain that in order to write a truly fascinating book, there is much work to be done. I am certain of this because every author says so—and they probably know what they are talking about. Plus, many writers have committed suicide, which is sad, but more importantly supports my belief that writing is difficult. If they were making bank with their books and also had this great secret that their profession was really easy, do you think they would be depressed?! Well, maybe Hemmingway was a goner no matter what, but the others might have needed that stress of writing a good book and fulfilling everyone’s expectations to push them over the edge.
And now I seem amazingly insensitive.
All I am trying to say is that it won’t be easy. There are a couple of reasons for this. First off, I am not an ‘idea person.’ This is annoying because many times I find myself truly motivated to write, sitting in Ikea comfort with laptop on lap and no ideas. An additional negative to this is that I end up feeling really lame and shallow that I have nothing to write about. I just lived a whole day with countless human interactions and I can’t think of one interesting, observant thing to write about. What am I doing all day, oiling all my moving parts ‘cause I’m a freaking robot?! Okay, just so I’m not completely tramping on my self esteem, I do have ideas…I just don’t remember them when its time to write. It’s like stage fright only with writing. Except for I’m not scared, I’m just uninspired. And I don’t have a bunch of people watching me expectantly. Okay it’s not really like stage fright.
My second self impeding obstacle is that I get lost in the details when I am writing. I will write about a section of the sky for about a half a page if I’m on a role--especially if I happen to be writing poetically—I’m a sucker for that. Sometimes I randomly start writing ‘pretty’ with flowery words and much angst—which honestly, is not really me at all. Occasionally that’s a fun land to visit though. The point is I would really bore someone if let myself go on and on about some cracks in the sidewalk and how there is moss growing in them. We’ve all seen what it looks like—no one wants to read a page about it. The funny thing is I don’t like reading a ton of details when I pick up a book. Sometimes I’ll browse ahead just to see if there is sufficient dialogue to keep my interest—and to make sure there’s some fun sexual tension going on. Shallow, I know—don’t judge me.
The third trap that I could see myself plunging into is what I like to call “Six Steps to 360,” because after six steps you are right back where you started. Okay, I just came up with that—but I like it. This is probably common for many people—allow me to articulate. Step 1: Come up with a Great Plan and become super pumped about it. Step 2: Do a little research, maybe buy some tools necessary for plan. Step 3: Give it a shot. Step 4: Realize that this is not going to be as easy and inspiring as you thought. There is no motivating theme music like in the movies. Step 5: Fizzle out and rationalize why the Great Plan did not work. Step 6: Come up with another Great Plan.
360 degrees—beautiful
I am hoping my current Great Plan will not follow the same said steps.