Too Busy Living

Some people have this concept of writers where we are always thinking of how o make something into a story. Writers are observers, so they spend all their time observing. This thinking leads to a question I've heard asked: "If you're always observing and thinking about things in terms of writing, can you ever really be immersed in anything?"

The answer to the question is no. If you are always thinking about writing, you can't be engrossed in a nonwriting activity. But the catch is that the premise is moot. No matter how much a person thinks about writing or observes life, there are always going to be times where we are too busy living to think about writing.

Writing is a thoughtful activity. We think about writing when he have the luxury of being thoughtful. If you are in the throes of passion or if you are being rushed to the emergency room, you probably aren't thinking about writing. There are too many other things on your mind, things that are more interesting and for more important to deal with right away.

However, even if you are too busy living to think about writing, that does not mean you are wasting time. For one thing, you are taking a break, which everybody needs to do. For another thing, you are gaining experiences. Writers need to know what certain things are like in real life so they can express it properly and accurately. Even if you are completely engrossed in what you are doing, you will still be able to look back on it later, when you are in a more thoughtful mood.

Writers should be writing. And the more they write, the better they'll get. But sometimes, it's ok to take a break from it. Sometimes you're just too busy living.