Commitment, Indulgence, and Stress Reduction

I have long considered myself a hobby writer, in that I write more for pleasure than with any notion of ever making it my profession. In my youth, I did harbor that fantasy but certain realities about that industry and my own personality made me realize that I was never going to make a living at writing. In a lot of ways, that is more than fine. I get a great deal of pleasure out of writing. If I needed to rely on my writing to pay the bills, the joy would probably be completely sucked out of it for me. (I usually end up despising anything that I feel that I 'have' to do.)

Over the years, I have found myself spending less and less time writing for pleasure. And I am the worse for the lack of it I think. Blogging is the only semi-regular outlet I have these days.

Since I periodically belong to the Writers Digest Book Club, I frequently get mailings from them advertising online workshops. I usually just delete them. I've told myself that I don't have the time or the money to commit to such things; or, I tell myself that those workshops are for people who have professional writing aspirations, which definitely is no longer a goal of mine.

I got one of those emails earlier this week. Something stopped me from deleting it. I re-opened it and glanced at it every day for four days. Then I thought about it.

I'm not taking any classes for my degree right now. I'm not taking any professional development courses for my job for the next few months. Work and home have been bombarding me with some minor stressors in the last couple of months. Writing centers me and helps me work through stress. Also, the cost of the class is currently not a big deal for me.

So, viola! I am now registered for a twelve week online workshop on Fundamentals of Fiction Writing. I've ordered the textbook. The class starts Thursday. YIPPEE!!!