It gets worse though. As if being addicted weren't enough, writing starts to totally take over life. We progress through the day thinking about plot lines and protagonists. The student scribbles under the desk and the employee taps notes into a phone, when the teacher/boss isn't looking of course. Soon, nights are spent in bed with a laptop or notebook. Upon awakening, the writer finds the imprint of a keyboard in her cheeks or a notebook spine pressed into her forehead. Every waking moment is spent multitasking because the thoughts of stories never leaves the min, yet the day must go on and life must continue. Duties and obligations prevent writing from happening as much as we want, but we never forget it.
Guilt builds though, when we don't write as much as we need to, because it is a need. It is all that keeps us from gaining a level of craziness that even society deems is too much. Yet writing brings in just as much guilt. Time spent writing is time spent not getting other things done, such as chores, work, or school. Every word is a debate, every sentence a battle, as the brain argues over whether time is better spent writing or doing what needs to be done.
Writing is a dualistic in its qualities though. It prevents insanity yet it is insanity. To continue writing and expect something other than the addiction that results, is insanity by definition. However, stopping would lead to the bottling up of ideas and emotions, something that any psychologist would agree leads to insanity. The idea of stopping, is something most writers cannot even fathom. I know I could never stop. Even without the means to write, I would continue to construct characters and plot points in my head. Stopping is nearly impossible, once it's begun.
So I share this meme with you. (I only recently saw LoTR, so I only recently understand the reference.) I think it sums this post up nicely. :)
