I am the first to admit that I don't always sit down and write. No matter what I'm doing, though, I'm always creating. This reality took a very long time for me to reconcile.
I am not always the fastest speed boat in the lake, but I am among the most tenacious. So, in spite of the fact that I used beat myself up anytime I wasn't sitting at the keyboard, pounding out those picture words, or I did not daily and routinely outline or create new and exciting characters, I persisted in my quest. My question to myself was always, "If I don't do these things, why do I think I am called to write?" Well, after much self-deprecation and self-doubt (we are talking in years here), I told my internal critique to, "take a hike!" That was the most freeing writing experience I ever had.
I then 'gave myself permission' to believe I am a writer. A good writer or a bad one, I AM a writer. This became a mantra for a while. When I mustered the courage to sit down and pound out the story, I was surprised. Over the course of two and a half weeks, it came out. I wrote, and never looked back, until I typed 'The End." That is how Ravens Cove came to be. So, I now understand that creative writing (for this writer and probably many others) is a dual process – 90% of which is thinking. Putting coherent thoughts on paper is the other 10%.
There is also something to be said for disciplined writing. How would I have gotten a book published without it? But, l'll leave that thought for tomorrow…..Until then, write on – it's worth it.