Writing habits

A couple of posts ago, I talked about coming to terms with my writing habits and goals. I want to be a novelist, but am unsure if that means not having a day job? It would be really great to be able to travel for weeks at a time, but maybe I need the discipline.

I received The Writer yesterday, and there was an article titled "Writing on the Fly," by Sandra Hurtes. In it, authors talk about how they fit their lives around their writing. This excerpt stood out for me. Hurtes is talking about Stacy Sims, a Cinncinati writer and Pilates studio owner:

With two day jobs she's emotionally invested in, finding the time to fit her writing job in isn't easy. "I don't have an expectation that I will write every day," she says. "Except for revising my play, I haven't had time to write in two months." She reconnects with her writing by going away for short periods of time and writing nonstop. That means spending enough time with her character that they "tell me everything I need to know," she says.

She advises writers, "Don't waste time on unhealthy habits. like spending your time thinking about how you are not writing! Thoughts are energy and they can keep us stuck."

I think this is helpful and addresses the first part of my problem. The second part of my problem is more insidious and has to deal with the emotional aspect of writing. I have the following problems:

• Don't have anything to say.
  
• Am terrified of writing.
  
• I find it incredibly painful.
  
• Don't think I know enough about plot.

Even as I wrote those words, they sounded wrong. Am I really terrified? I don't know if I would say that, but I do feel anxious. I don't know what the answer is. It feels good to write about it though.