Instant gratifiction

I’m taking a basic programming course this spring and do you guys know what I love about it? Everything! Even the homework assignments (is it obvious that I miss going to school and actually exercise my brain?) But today I’m going to talk about something I think is characteristic for writing simple programs in computer code, and that is instant gratification.

I love the fact that you can tell your program to do something and then it actually does it. Even if it’s something as simple as adding two numbers, you’re the one that made it and you get to see that it works instantly.

 

It’s an exhilarating feeling.

 

Of course, the more complex the program, the more delayed the gratification gets (because you have to figure out the best way to make the program do what you want it to do, define variables, code different classes to do different things, etc.).

 

It made me think about my writing. First off, you don’t begin writing seriously if you can’t handle the whole delayed gratification bit. It’s kindda in the job-description. But maybe, just maybe, the fact that the gratification is now so delayed, is proof that I’m writing at an advanced level.

 

Do you guys remember when you wrote one paragraph and just the fact that you had opened that word-document and started typing was enough to make you happy and feel proud of yourself? You then finished a chapter and thought, oh yeah, first chapter done!

 

I’ve lost that childish joy and the instant gratification in writing has disappeared. It’s been gone for so long that I actually forgot that it was even there in the first place. I’ve been a little caught up in the whole “I’ll never be good enough/why even bother”-phase.

 

If Cat-from-the-past could see me writing regularly, having finished drafts (yes, plural!!), and beginning to revise current stories? She would have her mind blown and be so incredible proud of me. It’s a heartwarming thought.

 

There is no longer instant gratification in it for me when I’m writing, and that’s a good thing. It really is. It means that I’ve evolved as a writer, that I’m a better writer than I was before.

 

But you can bet your ass that I’m still going the enjoy the instant gratification I get from writing computer-code.