My favorite thing is the sense of accomplishment that comes when I finish something. I'm talking the final draft. And most of the time I wonder how I was even able to do it. We all know how much work we put into our stories. Finishing a story all the way gives me some confidence in what I can really pull of. My next favorite thing is when I first start a story. I love the very beginning where anything is possible. I tend to get the feeling about 1k to 3k words in, and it can be short lived for me. I can get excited starting new chapters sometimes. But nothing is like the very beginning when I can convince myself that I'm starting a masterpiece. My third favorite thing about being a writer is that it's a great excuse to bail of things I don't really want to do. "Can't. I'm writing this weekend." Not like I have a lot of invites to things, but it's for the best because there are very few things I feel like doing these days other than reading and writing. What about you guys? What are your favorite thing about being a writer? I guess my short list shows I like having written more than the writing. I didn't think that was true before making this post, but maybe it's true. Do you like having written something more than actually writing something?
For me, it is the way a story invades my thoughts at times. Being able to see it in my mind. There is a thrill to taking those thoughts and putting them on paper. There is a challenge to taking something you can see like it is on a movie screen and translating that to the written word.
There's nothing like finishing a story and you know that it works. I love that feeling of accomplishment. I enjoy the entire creative process, and like you say, starting a new story is very exciting. It usually starts with one simple idea and then you dig and dig and hopefully come up with some gold. Yes, it's a lot of mental work, but there's great satisfaction in being the creator of what unfolds.
The beginning is always the hardest for me. I don't know why, but there is something about the start of a story that intimidates me. It's easily my least favourite part. But once I get started, things tend to become easier. I do wish that I'd solve this somehow. Editing is my most favourite part. I don't have to worry about starting the story anymore and its easier to get in the flow. That's why I do so much draft work months in advance for the contests here. I produce drafts for each prompt and do all the dreadful 'beginning work' all at once. Then I let the drafts age until the deadline for each one. It's so much easier to work with aged manuscripts in general and I do think this applies to pretty much everyone. It's like, you can see problems you couldn't before. This is how I posted a story every single month for 15+ months straight. When I finish the first draft of my novel, I'll probably let it rest for months too.
Maybe more practical than what you had in mind, but my favorite thing about writing is the fact that I can do it anywhere. Most of my interests involve special venues or equipment. I can sit down and close my eyes and write a story (in my head, anyway).
My favorite moments come very much at random throughout the writing and editing portions. Every once in a while, I'll construct a line or passage that I'm particularly proud of, something that makes me feel like a real artist. I love that. It's difficult to sustain that feeling, though. As we all know, we don't always feel brilliant. Sometimes being a writer is closely akin to having some sort of rapid cycling mood disorder. "I love this! I hate this! I'm such a genius I want to take my brain out and kiss it! I hate what I just wrote so much I might put a bullet in my laptop!" Those genius moments are pretty fun though, and the longer I work at this stuff, the better I get at minimizing the impact of my overzealous inner critic.
