as a writer what can i write about writing?

Writing about writing is challenging. Well, not for Stephen King or Mary Karr, but it is for me. It’s challenging because writing isn’t something I do because I capital-H Have to or I’ll be miserable. Writing is something I do because I’m a writer. I make a living writing, so I write. Sure, sometimes I’m so inspired by an idea that I just have to write about it. The more likely situation, though, is that I’m up against a deadline with an assignment and so I write. Or, I’ve been noodling with an idea for a while, and I’ve gotten it to a place where it’s fit for public consumption, and so I write. I write because I am a writer.

I like writing the most when it’s over. I like reading and re-reading and re-reading the final draft. I like enjoying my work. Then I like making teeny tiny adjustments, so I enjoy it even more. I like how it feels when I’ve crafted something I’m proud of that will be around after I’m gone. I like delivering the final product and checking the task off my list. I like to be finished writing. The writing process, on the other hand, can be torturous and painful and an exercise in self-discipline. So I guess it isn’t only writing about writing that’s challenging. The actual writing is challenging too. Once I push through though, it’s always satisfying — every single time.