I know some days writing is about as rewarding as using a crap plastic spoon to chip servings out of a frozen gallon tub of ice cream. But keep at it! It’s like savings—put away a little bit each day/month/year, and over time you’ll be amazed at how much you’ve amassed.
And in keeping with the first metaphor—if you let the ice cream soften a little, it’s a lot easier to use that crappy little spoon to scoop it out.
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| This is not a tub of ice cream, but delicious ice cream cake. However, it still needs to soften. |
I like to mull over ideas a bit before sitting down to write. Usually I have a playlist I listen to (typically it is music that either #1 embodies the themes and emotions of the work or #2 I heard a lot while I was writing and therefore it became associated in my mind with the piece, even if the song and the written bit have NOTHING that links them--#2 is the more common reason). Listening to music that I’ve associated with the WIP, or reading some of my favorite bits of the WIP, or even just reading a bit of a story that helped get my creative juices flowing in the first place—all of these things help me soften myself up creatively before writing.
I don’t always take my own advice. (Lazy writer!) But when I do, it seriously helps the words and ideas flow.
I'm not a huge fan of music, sometimes I find the best thing to do is to write something about the story world from a different perspective. For example writing a snippet of poetry or journal entry by one of the characters.
ReplyDeleteIt's better if it's not related to the story line as it helps me get in the mindset of the world. Thinking about it's history and how that might affect the lives of the characters I'm writing about gets me more drawn in.
That is also an excellent suggestion ... I do that too sometimes :-)
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