#so the ugly drafts are just the building blocks necessary to create the final product

[bookshelf-in-progress]

There's always a danger of caring too much about a story, and then getting paralyzed by the need to do it justice, so it never gets written.

I've solved this problem in the past by writing stories so fast that I don't have time to get too invested, or writing stories that I'm not that attached to.

But maybe the trick is to love the story so much that I want to share it any way I can, even if it's imperfect. To feel that any version of this story is better than the story never getting written at all. To get out of my own way and stop worrying about what other people will think of my writing, or even what I think of my writing, and love the story for its own sake, love the readers enough to want to have the joy of sharing the story with them.

Maybe it'll work. Maybe it won't. But so far it feels like a much better approach.

#adventures in writing #i think inklings has finally born fruit for me #other years i've stayed far away from beloved story concepts #for just this reason #and then i mentally shelved most of those story concepts #recognizing i'd likely never write them in a way that lives up to my imagination #and that probably gave me the distance i needed to pick some of them up again #for one thing the short time frame of inklings forces me to get down to the heart of the concept to fit it into a short story #and the long development time means i've had time to figure out what the core of the concept *is* #what keeps this story lingering in my imagination; which means i know what the good parts are #and then the deadline also forces me to try to write it fast and short #because if i don't write it for inklings i likely never will #and that's a tragedy i want to avoid #having such a clear concept of the story's core #means i can put up with ugly haphazard drafts #because i know what the overall story feels like; i've had years to develop it #so instead of a bad draft proving a story's not worth writing #i *know* that the story's worth writing because it's stuck with me this long #so the ugly drafts are just the building blocks necessary to create the final product #of course the danger is that i'll put out a story and it won't be as cool outside my head #and people will hate this piece of my soul i've poured out to them #but if i love it enough maybe it'll reach that special status #where it means so much to me personally that the wider audience reaction doesn't matter #but before i worry about this i gotta write a draft first

[rosy-writes]

Writer’s Block and Writing Process

Okay, so in my campnano cabin, @papofglencoe had a question about her struggles with writing and the block she was experiencing, and seeing as I am writing about writer’s block and ways we can over come it, I decided I’d try to work on her question and see what I could come up with. I went with a few different suggestions, even though, for some reason, this confronted my own issues of anxiety and writer’s block and it took me over a day to post this. Here it is finally

 Lately, I start up a new project to get the juices flowing, then invariably I peter out on it. It just... loses steam. I start to question the worth of the story, and I lose impetus to write it. This has been happening pretty consistently since January, and every time I start a new story and fizzle out on it, my confidence to complete a project erodes a little further. Maybe if I toggled more between them it wouldn't feel like a failure, just a break to recharge.

Okay, so I think the first thing to do is to think about what is making you stop?

Is it your inner editor that is getting too loud?

Screw the editor. The best way to get the editor to shut up is to force yourself to write under a time constraint, without editing at all. Don’t look for the right word. Don’t research that troublesome plot point. Don’t make it a finished draft. It’s not supposed to be a finished draft. All first drafts are ugly. At this point it’s better to mark something with a place holder, like XXXX than to stop your momentum to fidget with the perfect turn of phrase or the correct scientific concept or whatever it is that your internal editor says is what you SHOULD be saying. 

There’s no shoulds in a first draft except getting that story down on paper. Don’t CARE if it makes no sense. Honestly. Turn off that judgmental part of you that decides if the words are worth it. It’s all worth it, because what you are doing now is not writ ing the best words, it’s just writing the words that lead to the story.

You can fix a story that’s a mess, you can rearrange a troubled plot, you can take out the wordy language or add in better motivation for a character that is already written. You can cross out nonsense paragraphs and delete chapters, even, but you can not fix a story that never gets onto the page. Rough drafts are there to be imperfect and unfinished. Whether you are writing from the seat of your pants or plan it to the last tee, your first draft is only the starting place, so if your internal editor is silencing your writing, it’s time to silence your inner editor.

Write and do not stop writing even when your bad voices are telling you you’re terrible and the story is wrong. Say be quiet internal editor I’m writing now. You will be on deck when I get this first draft out. Trust me. That internal editor will come back and be ready to go when it’s time to ask for her advice. It will be ready to cross out the dross and find the pearls in your writing.

Is it your fear of failure? And you’re not sure if you’re going to be able to do it? Is it about perfectionism and you feel that if you can’t do it perfect then you can’t do it at all?

Lower the stakes. Stop looking at it as a project that is going to prove your worth. Stop looking at it as a finished project. What you have in front of you is a work in process. It does not have to be perfect. It does not have to do everything you want it to do. It does not have to make your place in the world or be genius. It just has to be put down on paper, word by word until you get to the end.

It is the act of writing that helps you find your story. It is the act of writing that creates the characters. It is the act of writing that opens up the doors and allows you to enter into the worlds. It is the act of writing that engages your creativity. In this case, it is not the the words on the page that are important at this point. It is the ACT of writing them. And each word typed. Each sentence laid out on the paper is another step towards getting back to your writing and your story. You find your way through the struggle by putting one word after the other. And the only way to get to the end is to keep putting the next word down. That is the bravery, the refusal to let go and give up and stop.

Have you lost your focus because life had gotten too loud and other things are going on?

Go with it. Maybe your idea of multiple projects would work. I know that’s worked for me. When the anxiety builds on one project, I switch to the easier one. When I lose my impetus on one piece, I switch to a different one. When I am uncertain of the direction of my novel, I take a break and write some non fiction. Maybe if your problem is because  you have too many things on your mind, the answer is to write something that deals with the issues in your life. Sometimes we can’t write because something else is calling our attention. And that’s ok. Do you need to take a break and work on the things that are taxing your attention? That’s fine, and maybe necessary so you can clear your mind. Taking breaks from writing is part of the process. Decide to what extent you want to work on your writing. Maybe take on smaller projects. Maybe a project that is more meaningful and let’s you tackle your issues on a subconscious or metaphorical, or heck, direct level. Maybe a project that is FARTHER away from the things causing you stress, because that gives you a break from your stress. The simple act of allowing myself to write fan fiction, which was not my intended writing career, allowed me to start writing again and has broken through a time of great anxiety. It was an escape. And it allowed me freedom to just write without pressure.

I have definitely gone through periods of time where I have been in a fallow stage. Sometimes this means that I need to take a break. Sometimes it means that I am in an idea phase. Sometimes it just means that I’m busy in my life and I need to take care of non writing things. I don’t think periods of non writing are necessarily a problem, but if you want to keep writing, you have to get back to it. And that’s the tricky part, because it takes WORK to get back to a place where you are productive and working with a habit that keeps you writing.

I think the key here is to remember that writing is a process, and whether it’s the process of developing your project, or the process of putting one word down after the other, or discovering how to work with your own writer’s process, writing is an act, a development, and the most important thing is to just keep at it and honor your process.

#writer's block #the creative process #writing advice