Writing about writing

I've been noticing, lately, that when I sit down to write all I do is write about writing.

I have a weekly goal, that I sometimes do and sometimes do not meet.  Stories, books, blog posts, and daily prompts all count toward that weekly goal, and when I sit down at the end of the week to recap most of my words aren't exactly writing, but writing about it.

My blog, for example.  My blog isn't writing.  I did a post about this a long time ago, where I talked about work and what does and what doesn't 'count' as writing.  I see writing as fiction.  Every word of fiction I write a week, is writing.  So this blog isn't fiction, and isn't work.  it's writing about writing.  It's cheating.

I've stopped writing stories.  Sad, but true.  I haven't been writing stories.  I've been writing about stories.  I'll take a story, an idea, and I'll start... and then this happens, because of this.  And then he says this.  And then she does this.  And by the end of it I have a fully formed plot, a plan, a solid thousand words, but I didn't write anything.  Not a single line of dialogue.  Not one description.  Just honing the idea, writing down research, and doing absolutely no writing.

I'm sure that there's something to be gained from all this.  More developed works before I even start writing them, maybe.  An idea of what I'm doing and what my plans are.  But there are greater weaknesses than strengths.

I've been writing about writing and thinking about writing so much that I've stopped doing what it is that I love - namely, writing.  It's fine to think about theory.  Really, it is.  And I've been reading a lot of articles about theory, trying to learn more about my craft and to make it better.  But I've lost track of what it really is that improves my writing, and that is to write.

I just opened two documents that I've been 'working' on, with every intention of getting to work as soon as I'm finished here.  They're both good ideas, and now that I know what's wrong, I can fix it.

Thanks for stopping by, catch you later!