I'm writing again.
At least, I'm excited about writing again. For the last month or so I've been struggling to get words down. But over the last week I've had a few good ideas regarding plot holes and characterization.
I don't have anything to post in terms of WIPs, because I'm in first drafts right now and they are t.e.r.r.i.b.le. in my opinion. BUT! I have a question.
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| How do you get from THIS ... |
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| To THIS? |
What do you do to motivate yourself when you absolutely do not want to write? When writing feels like holding your hand to the fire or pushing a cart full of bricks up a mountainside or chipping at an iceberg with a plastic spoon?
Oh I know exactly how you feel. I've been in an I-don't-even-want-to-look-at-words mood for several weeks now. It's so hard to get motivated...but I like to peruse the blogs and twitter. Just reading what other writers (pubbed and non) are thinking/saying/doing seems to get me back into the writing mood. Good luck!
ReplyDelete@Jaimie Thanks! I am trying to follow the mantra "Get it down before you get it right" and I think that will help me stay focused. I have such an impulse to making things perfect the first time around and that is sabotaging my writing.
ReplyDeleteI put on music, drink a glass of wine, and give myself either a time deadline (15 min) or a wordcount goal (say, 750 words--which seems to be how much I can write without it becoming painful). And then I force it. It's rough, but it gets me through the hump usually. It's starting that's the hard part.
ReplyDeletereading is a good one.
ReplyDeleteand also critiquing other's work. it helps you see your own work more clearly.
sometimes though, i just wait it out and throw myself into something completely different, like deep cleaning the house or painting or making halloween costumes...
I watch anime or read manga. Always gets me going again. The Japanese have a way of making things simple but epic, and really boiling things down to what's necessary to show.
ReplyDelete@Phoebe Music is a huge help to me ... and sometimes the deadlines work. When I'm in the depths of discouragement making myself adhere to a goal is actually worse, but you're absolutely right about starting being the worst. Once I've "submerged" into a story for at least 15 minutes I'm good to go.
ReplyDelete@aspiring_x Yes, actually one of the things that propelled me forward out of this slump was reading a really good book that made me want to go out and write a soul-stirring book of my own.
ReplyDelete@Jaimie Good suggestion about anime ... sometimes I lose myself in my writing because I can't see the forest for the trees, so to speak.
My problem is that I'll get stuck with what I'm working on, and want very badly to start something new. That's a bad habit. So, I try to tell myself that I can't start something new until I finish my current WIP. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.
ReplyDeleteLove those visuals!
ReplyDeleteIf I'm struggling, I sometimes take a break. Walk the dog, do laundry, whatever. Sometimes I'll even drag my poor husband into my plot problems, and he helps me think of new angles.
I also use write or die by dr. wicked, since it helps me move forward with the draft, and stop staring at a blank screen!
@Alissa Me too!! I have a ridiculously short attention span.
ReplyDelete* Example *
Me: "So I was thinking I'd like to get ice cream later--ooo hey, squirrels!!"
No joke.
I also sternly tell myself that I cannot start new things until old things are finished. This rarely works. Maybe one day.
@Julie My poor husband is also similarly dragged into plotting with me, usually while we're out walking or during a long car ride (then he's a captive audience). This is probably his least-favorite part of being married to a writer.
ReplyDeleteWrite or Die? I'll have to google that.