When the Writing is Not Fun

11/2/2014

I have been writing for a couple of days now. Unfortunately, the writing has nothing to do with my book, and I think, it is making me nauseous.

I have a post-tenure review, which means I get to be evaluated (add your own synonym) every four years. The portfolio is due tomorrow, and like a bad student, I waited until this weekend to put it together. The problem is that I have little energy right now, and frankly, don't feel like rattling off about all the wonders of my teaching. (I am on page six of my teaching techniques and will not write more than another paragraph.)

In some ways, this reminds me of having to develop a large ego for writing, at least some writers do. That is not my cup of tea by any means, and some of the best writers I have met and admired were not full of themselves. In fact, arrogant writers, even very good ones, annoy me. Conceited people in general, get on my last nerve.

So, here's to some preferred writing humility.

My writing advice for the day is to take a nap and watch something mindless, maybe the strong adjectives and verbs will follow.

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Dr. Jesú Estrada,
Chicago, IL

I grew up on the outskirts of Yuma, AZ, close to the Cocopah reservation. Because I was ever-bored, I became an avid reader of Spanish comic books and anything in English. Then I moved onto Steinbeck and Stephen King and now read international authors like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Atwood, and Marouf. I also read a lot of coming of age fiction.

I have been writing stories in both Spanish and English since I was six years old. My fiction and poetry focus on working class issues, primarily about laborers in the Southwest. I also write non-serious fiction, like zombie fiction (I was into it before it got popular with the Walking Dead series, which I love) and dabble in magical realism with a fusion of cuentos and folklore.

I have a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition from Washington State University, a Masters Degree in English from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelors of Arts from Northern Arizona University. I have also taught creative writing, and will do so, spring 2017. Currently, I live in Chicago and teach full-time at Harold Washington College to an amazing student population.

More about me. I am happily married, been so for over eight years, and have a fabulous seven-year-old who makes my life phenomenal: He too is starting to write short stories. I recently had a second baby, Simona, which put a temporary set-back on the publication of my first book, but made my life infinitely more wonderful. My husband is also incredibly supportive, and I have enlisted him to market whatever I do that is worth marketing.

That damned itch just won't let me be, so I'm back to my original love of words.