Why does coming back to writing feel like getting back with an ex after a bad breakup?
It’s like you just can’t stay away. Something about them keeps drawing you back. No matter how much your friends tell you they’re bad for you. No matter how many times you replay the agony of the bad times in your mind…it’s just impossible to be with anyone else.
The only difference with writing is that people encourage you, usually, to keep going. They think you have a real talent for it. They want you to succeed. “Please, read us something,” they beg. you constantly tell them no because nothing ever seems good enough to be public facing. Also, unlike your ex, they just don’t know how bad this relationship is for you.
I would have to say that I am much better at this type of writing than the writing I have to do at my day job. I’m assuming because its stream of consciousness and legal writing typically has an aim, a goal. A very specific audience. They train you to write this way and in my line of work, it’s very rare that I get an audience that requires narrative. Sometimes the facts just happen to line up and make an interesting story.