Why DON'T You Write?

Discussion in 'General Writing' started by Sack-a-Doo!, Feb 4, 2016.

  1. nhope

    nhope Member Reviewer

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    Well, since Sack-a-Doo! 'liked' my post I think I was on target - to bring it down to the personal level. You're pissed off? Why? This isn't about you, unless I hit a nerve. You see, most people posted about obligation - work, school, relationships, kids, parents - and the responsibilities that go along with those and I'm pretty sure Sack knows about all these things and how they enter into not doing whatever you want to do, whether it's writing, running, sleeping, painting, or raising chickens. What I believe the heart of the question was simply what was asked - "Why don't you write?"

    We don't do things because we don't want to. Very simple. What's difficult to answer is the reason why we don't want to. The only way to figure that out if you're a writer is to write because only when you write you figure out why you're not writing.

    My root cause of not writing? Fear of commitment. I divorced my husband 23 years ago and haven't been able to commit to anything real since. Oh sure, I got the kids, much older now, and I have a job and a house and a mortgage and a delightful grandson and I've written hundreds of amazing words on paper and balanced them off with pages of not so amazing, and those notepads and folders and scribbles on napkins and receipts and index cards have not yet turned into a book, but I have figured out why. Took decades to do because it was easier to just assign it under dishes, baths, homework, fatigue, cranial mania.

    Well, New Year's Eve came and I read a book that brought about a transformation in me and now I'm going to finish something because when I do write, I'm damn good at it. Maybe fiction isn't my thing, maybe I should be writing about life in general and how we talk ourselves into things because we just want to belong to something bigger than ourselves because the truth of that is - we just don't trust who we are. Maybe I need to do that thru fiction - perhaps a fairy tale - because we tend to latch on to possibility rather than fact, after all, we all do have a superhero that we keep private, our very own totem of faith and trust and truth, because once again, we aren't quite sure of ourselves.

    You see, 10 of us can stand on the edge of a lake holding flat stones. 10 of us can skim those stones across that lake, but only one will skim the farthest stone and that one will rejoice, and the rest of us will join in but perhaps somewhat enviously, but we will because hey, we aren't sore losers, right? And maybe we'll break up and go our separate ways after or maybe hit the bar for a celebratory drink, but you know who I'd choose to hang with? The one that was satisfied with one stone he threw and then waded out to that point and sank with it to the bottom, because he knew that was where he would learn what was buried beneath the obvious, that is where the treasure is.

    That is what writing tells you, if you want to know. THAT is why sometimes, I don't write. But that is also why I should.
     
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  2. Rob40

    Rob40 Active Member

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    I either have an idea and then jump on it or I have nothing. For the nothing, usually something comes up whe scrolling past my old short entries and I decide to read one and really have to re-work it. Clean it up, fix tenses and word use, really what I have are all in various states of a first-draft. But correcting and shortening and changing things around mostly warms me up and in a way, serves as a pre-writing while also editing previous stuff that needed it anyway. So that gets me going when I feel empty.

    On occasion, something I'm really proud of comes from the 'nothing' moments. Example:
    I'm about to turn the light off and go to sleep in one of the many hotel rooms I'm in during a work week. I have a hotel note pad and pen and nothing in my head and couldn't think of anyhting at all to throw down. I think how It's bed time. As a kid, who didn't get a bed time story? We all did. There's always a bedtime story. I wonder if some of those stories were real. hmm.....and then.....off my mind went and i wrote on the subject. Tiny flash but turned out fun when I cleaned it up the next morning.

    So go over something old and fix parts here and there. You'll get something in the head to use.
     
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  3. edamame

    edamame Contributor Contributor

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    @nhope I don't know why you're so interested in the internal reasons (because everything external is just an excuse) why other people don't write. Honestly, it comes off as condescending because you've discovered what's holding you back and gotten over it and you think everyone else should do the same. I'm glad for you, but how about finishing that something you mentioned above before you start looking down on people? And then, how about sustaining that nearly everyday for a few years? How about sharing your "amazing words" in the critique section of this forum? I notice you haven't done so since 2009...

    I'd respect you more if you led by example instead of judging others. I think you are trying to be helpful, but this just comes across as narrow-minded. Yes, it makes perfect sense to sneer and get angry at people who struggle especially after you invite them to share that struggle with you. If you want to be angry at yourself for those 23 years you didn't commit, go ahead. Don't project that onto everyone else and rant about how it took you that long to throw a stone...at your competition.
     
    Last edited: Feb 7, 2016
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  4. izzybot

    izzybot (unspecified) Contributor

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    Plenty of people's responses talked about struggling to write due to worry, anxiety, lacking confidence, frustrating perfectionism, etc, which aren't at all 'external distractions' (mine included, so yeah, nerves have been hit).

    Plenty of other posts talked about not writing because of work, which obviously most adults have to do to exist in the world, or spending time with family / taking care of kids, which are incredibly important things.

    You can have other things that are more important at the time or be inhibited by insecurity, and it doesn't mean you secretly don't want to write at all, which is the vibe your post gives off imo: telling people in a largely light-hearted thread that if they really wanted to do something, they'd just do it, regardless of what other responsibilities they have. Raising kids, having anxiety, and having to work to put food on the table are just excuses, right?

    We're all writers. We just got other shit to do, too :p
     
    Last edited: Feb 7, 2016
  5. Lifeline

    Lifeline South. Supporter Contributor

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    :p My nerves haven't been hit! Sorry to disappoint you :D

    I didn't write for a whole long time but .. as I then was not a writer .. there are no nerves to be hit. I don't regret these years, I am satisfied with the life I have made for myself. I really just was pissed off at the open question (which came over condescending).

    The one really important thing you said is
    Very true, it is what I go by every day of my life. And the corollary: We do things because we want to. Figure out which stuff is important and then do it. This will craft a life where you don't need to regret a single day.
     
  6. Sack-a-Doo!

    Sack-a-Doo! Contributor Contributor

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    Wow, nhope.

    Just... wow. So well said.

    I just finished watching The History of the Eagles and I found a similar sentiment there. Take it to the limit... one more time.
     
  7. Sack-a-Doo!

    Sack-a-Doo! Contributor Contributor

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    This sounds like me while first drafts... the entire time while writing first drafts. :)
     
  8. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    Bolded part = yeah, that's what most people have been talking about in this thread. They skipped past the obvious and got to the hard stuff, and then you scolded them for not stating the obvious. Kinda weird.

    Maybe we've read the original question differently - were you reading it as "why aren't you a writer?" while I was reading it as "you're a writer, but sometimes you don't write - why?"

    Because, again, the last sentence of the quoted section seems to be addressing a question I've asked and answered long ago. I don't need to figure out if I'm a writer. I am. But there's always the struggle of doing the work associated with that realization, and I think that is what most people in this thread have been discussing.
     
  9. nastyjman

    nastyjman Senior Member

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    For me, I still have hesitations or doubts even if I'm working on the first draft. Doing a quick five minute or ten minute free-write helps me get rid of that. I spill out everything just like a patient would with his psychologist.

    Also, I use it when I hit a snag in the middle of a writing session. If there's a plot problem or something bothering me in the story, I do another free-write where I talk the problem out. So far it has never failed me, and I do enjoy those moments.

    I write these things down on .txt file, which I had named "story journal." It's also fun reading them just to see what I was thinking at those times.
     
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  10. Eric Steiner

    Eric Steiner New Member

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    I work in a warehouse with about fifty other people. With everything I observe during a single workday I keep telling myself "this place is a hit screenplay waiting to happen!"

    The thing is, when I get off of work, I usually go straight to school and come home with a fried brain forgetting all the events of the workday. I think what I need is an efficient way to catalog my ideas during my work day that won't take a lot of time. I have Evernote on my phone, but I never think to use it.

    I suppose I need to train myself to write ideas down. I spend more time writing lengthy posts and comments on FaceBook than just writing for myself.

    I have a road trip planned for July and I'm psyching myself out to view it as a short story and document everything my family and I do just as a training exercise if anything else.
     
  11. KevinMcCormack

    KevinMcCormack Senior Member

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    It could be the typing. I find typing tedious on my phone.

    I use the Voice Memos app on my phone for quick ideas when I'm not at my writing space; I charge it on my nightstand for when I wake up partway through a dream.


    I found that I needed to enforce a produce/consume balance by limiting my TV AND Facebook combined to an hour a day M-F, never on weekends.


    When I'm On The Road, I try to channel my Inner Kerouac and talk to all those strangers.
     
  12. KevinMcCormack

    KevinMcCormack Senior Member

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    Yes, I obviously misunderstood the question as well. I took it for granted that everybody on this forum "is a writer" and the question was about what sort of things trainwreck the activity of writing itself. The example right now is my neighbour revving his overkill two stroke hedgeclippers.
     
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  13. Sack-a-Doo!

    Sack-a-Doo! Contributor Contributor

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    I tried doing this with my Android phone (and my Nexus) but after reviewing notes one day, I realized that a lot of them were dreck. Now I follow Stephen King's example. If I remember the idea the next day, unaided by recorders or even pencil and paper, it's worth remembering and I use it.

    But you probably get better ideas than I do. :)

    You have far more self-control than I do. If I lived somewhere warm and could go for walks any time I found myself with that old Internet urge, I might be able to enforce such limits on myself. (sigh)
     
  14. Sack-a-Doo!

    Sack-a-Doo! Contributor Contributor

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    Since there's been some discussion regarding exactly what I meant by the original question, I'll try to clarify...

    When you know you're supposed to be writing (for whatever reason, self-imposed or otherwise) what straws do you grasp at to avoid doing the work?

    Like, for instance, when my wife nags me about housework, I could ignore her and most of the time, I do. But some days when I'm not feeling in tune (you all know what I mean by that, I'm sure) with the story I'm working on, I'll feverishly clean the entire apartment just to avoid writing.

    I hope that helps clear up any misunderstandings. ;)
     
  15. Christine Ralston

    Christine Ralston Active Member

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    Sometimes I revise a bit of what I've written, which motivates me to write new material as it helps me regain my momentum.
     
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  16. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

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    When I try that, I come back and think "what the hell was I going to end that with?"

    Also see my notebook with half-finished sentences ending in ??????

    It's sad, going senile at 26.
     
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  17. Sack-a-Doo!

    Sack-a-Doo! Contributor Contributor

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    LOL. Yeah, that happened to me, too. It's why I went to art college. :)
     
  18. Samurai Jack

    Samurai Jack Active Member

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    Storyboard, storyboard, storyboard. I have the directions printed before I start the trip.
     
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  19. zoupskim

    zoupskim Contributor Contributor

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    I do a small amount of proofreading and editing in the paragraph immediately before the part I am about to write.
     
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  20. ddavidv

    ddavidv Senior Member

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    Re-read the last few paragraphs to remind myself where I was. Bonus points if I wrote something really freakin' amazing in the last installment.
     
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  21. KhalieLa

    KhalieLa It's not a lie, it's fiction. Contributor

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    Glenfiddich on the rocks.
     
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  22. furzepig

    furzepig Member

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    I often make musical playlists that are meant to evoke something about the story I'm trying to convey. That way, when I start the music up, I'm automatically put in the right frame of mind.
     
  23. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    Three things work for me:

    Walking in the woods when it's warm and sunny always leaves me wanting to write when I get home.

    After six or so in the evening I use writing as an excuse to procrastinate on other work I have to do.

    And a glass of wine.
     
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  24. Sack-a-Doo!

    Sack-a-Doo! Contributor Contributor

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    Good thinking. Turn the tables. ;)
     
  25. Lifeline

    Lifeline South. Supporter Contributor

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    For me.. basically I just start writing. Gather my resolve and do it. Reading old scenes/editing is generally countraproductive, because then I never start with something fresh and the evening/morning is wasted.

    But out in the garden it starts every time. Pity that it is so cold at the moment and I can only write for an hour or so before I go in :D
    Inside writing is much, much harder. Go figure ;)
     
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