Conversations with Myself

IAs an only child who grew up in a neighborhood deviod of the company of people my own age, I've learned to cope with being alone. Not that I've always liked being alone; sometimes I would really appreciate having a brother or sister to talk to and tease (but that's what I have friends for, right?). Talking to oneself/arguing with oneself sounds creepily schizophrenic, but 1) I'm a writer, so it's how I work out plot and dialogue and 2) I'm an only child. Who else am I gonna talk to when I'm alone and it's as silent as that time when Dean Winchester had to climb out of his own grave?

I've been watching too much Supernatural. Too much?
No such thing.

Basically, if you throw in the aforementioned depression/PTSD into the mix; the conversations with myself get a whole lot more interesting.

Exposition, part two: There are always two sides to every conversation. Even when the conversation is with yourself. So I'd like to describe these two sides.

Number One: The productive side. I didn't graduate college with a 3.9 because I was lazy. Okay, sometimes I was lazy, but NOT VERY OFTEN. When I get driven/inspired, I can accomplish a hell of a lot. This usually happens during times when I have strict routines, like. . .school. Some of my best fiction was written during finals. This side of my personality I'm going to illustrate with the help of the fictional version of me:

Hair: Check.
Stress: Check.
Braininess: Check Check. 

For all you muggles, that's Hermione, and if you don't know Hermione, then I'm just kind of a little disappointed. Luckily, there are seven whole books out there that you can go educate yourselves with.

Part two of the personality I'm going to embody with my favorite Winnie the Pooh character:

Oh, bother. 

Basically explains itself, I think. 

So. Now that we've met the main characters, we can start a dialogue. 

HERMIONE: You know, you should really do some writing today. 

EEYORE: Eh. I could, if I had any ideas. 

HERMIONE: Well, you're not going to get any ideas by laying there. 

EEYORE: Who says?

HERMIONE: Basically every writing instructor that's lived. Remember? You get better at writing by practicing. 

EEYORE: I'm probably a terrible writer.

HERMIONE: That's the exactly attitude to take. Get up! Go do something! 

EEYORE: But all my first drafts are bad. 

HERMIONE: Anne LaMott, Eeyore. "Shitty first drafts are okay."

EEYORE: But revising is hard.

HERMIONE: So? 

EEYORE: I'm just uninspired.

HERMIONE: Quit making excuses! 

EEYORE: I'm also really tired.

HERMIONE: You know you just made a rhyme, right?

EEYORE: Oh look at that. I did. 

HERMIONE: Besides, if you can stay up until 1am giving every single facebook chat sticker in existence a character from Sherlock, Doctor Who, or Supernatural with Kate, YOU CAN WRITE A PULITZER PRIZE WINNING NOVEL. 

(authorial intrusion: I wish I was joking. Actually, no, I don't. I'm fairly sure Kate and I won the internet with our characterizations of Sam, Dean, and Cas.)

Just in case you thought I actually was kidding.
I'm not.

EEYORE: That was different.

HERMIONE: Really? What was the last thing you wrote?

EEYORE: . . .

HERMIONE: Was it or was it not really really bad Supernatural fanfiction?

EEYORE: You can't prove anything. 

HERMIONE: It was. 

EEYORE: So?

HERMIONE: It proves you can get inspired and write even if your writing sucks. 

EEYORE: Yeah; inspiration based on other people's work. 

HERMIONE: Point is, you can write. What happened to that story you were working on at the end of the school year?

EEYORE: It got lost when George Clooney's hard drive died. DUH. 

HERMIONE: Why don't you re-start it? 

EEYORE: Because. I don't have the energy and I can't remember it. 

HERMIONE: But it was good! The characters were good! The plot was going somewhere! 

EEYORE: You're right. I know you're right. 

HERMIONE: So. . .?

EEYORE: I'll start writing it again. 

HERMIONE: Good! 

EEYORE: After I take this nap.

HERMIONE: WHY DO YOU NEED A NAP? YOU HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING ALL DAY! 

EEYORE: Shhh. I'm trying to sleep. 

And that's how it's been, every day of the summer so far. What I really need to do is get a routine in my body where I sit down and designate time to writing EVERY DAY. I just get distracted by the copious amounts of British TV and Literature that I could be devouring and I'm lost, staring at Dean Winchester's annoyingly perfect face and yes I know that he's not British and his show is not British but mercy, he's the most perfect man, sorry Sam fans...that's all. 

How do you motivate yourselves to write, if you write? Share tips with me if you have any!