Writing Anyway
I made 3 drafts before this one, writing about 500 words or so before deleting it all and starting over. The fact that I kept at it, instead of closing this tab, and moving on to the next thing, made me realize that I had made a commitment to myself to write, and here I was, trying to uphold it. Writing anyway, even when nothing stuck.
These are a few thoughts that I’ve been holding today.
The next step will appear
As someone who is actively looking to transition careers, the past couple of months have been a rollercoaster of emotions. From frantic nights of studying like my life depended on it, to days when nothing could deter my belief that I was going to see this through. Make it past the in-between, and onto the other side.
It was only after I approached Div Manickam to become my mentor through this process, that I found a happy middle of these two extreme emotions I was oscillating between. I’ve been meeting with Div weekly for over 3 months now, and little by little, step by step, I’ve been building evidence, and in return confidence that I can make this transition. Without the feeling dissipating. It’s been a strange feeling, this confidence. But I’ve realized, that the next step will appear, as you embark on; and continue your journey.
It’s okay if you can’t see the path in front of you.
There’s so much to take away from figuring it out. It’s okay if it’s uncomfortable.
Sci-fi writers, how do you do it?
I’m currently reading Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky, after having blazed through his book Children of Time ( if you haven’t read it, please do yourself a favor and get a copy!). The world-building, the weaving through of science and physics as we know it, is just absolutely stunning. And I wonder what the writing process is like for a book of this caliber. Do you become a physicist through your research? Because it certainly feels like the author can be one if he wants to.
Where do you start to build a world, a universe, loosely related to ours, but lightyears ahead of what we know to be true?
Read, just read
When I’m not zipping through space and unspace with Adrian, I’ve been reading Make It Punchy by Emma Stratton. While I enjoyed reading the first chapter of the book, the fact that I had started the book with the intention to write insights from it, started creeping in. Suddenly it was too much. I started putting off the reading even though I found the book quite enjoyable.
I realize now that the sudden pause was a result of me putting an end goal to it. I wasn’t reading to just read. I was reading so I could write a blog or two about it. A couple of LinkedIn posts. So I’m just going to read for now. Make it through the book first, before putting down deliverables for myself.
I’ll be back with something product marketing related next week!