Resistance isn’t futile?

Many writers often describe the act of writing as a sort of compulsion. Often I’ve felt that way myself. Even when I’m sitting on the couch, watching a movie, reading a book, or just talking with someone, my mind will be half on what I’m doing, and half in another world. Sparked by an image, a quote, even a scene, a story will unfurl slowly or like a starburst. So in some ways I am always writing.

But there are moments when I feel the actual urge to write. My fingers will itch, my brain will race with words, sentences, dialogue, and description, and I’ll ache to sit at my computer and type away. Yet, sometimes I resist. Sometimes I’ll feel that urge come upon me, I’ll feel the draw of the creative and I’ll sit still, I’ll breathe, try to think of something else and just push it aside.

I wonder, is it self-sabotage? Is it laziness? Is it fear? I’m not sure. But perhaps, like the old saying “absence makes the heart grow fonder,” maybe resistance makes the writing stronger.