I put in a massive day today and got the kind of word count that many writers would jizz about. I had been stuck in my car yesterday and a portion of today, and i just pretended that i had that voice-recognition software. I pretended i was writing my story by talking to myself in the car. I used the same language, tried to get everything exactly the same as I would like to see it on the page. When I was finally able to get myself in front of a keyboard, the words shot out of me like a sneeze and splattered all over the computer. Obviously i had some clean up to do afterward, but my point is that i had never tried this before and holy heck did it work. We can compose in many ways; if one avenue closes for you (like typing) maybe saying it out loud will get the ol' juices flowing.
I can only ever write fiction on my own, with no distractions. I dont think I'd get much done in a coffee shop tbh. Especially after a recent personal upheaval.
I tend to over-think the scenes and then by the time I actually start writing, it comes out as not what I expected lol
You've struck a nail that rarely gets struck. Pacing. It's SO important when you're writing a story. How to keep readers with you long enough to create the effect you want? How to make an action scene last long enough to make an impact without weakening the action itself? How to make a scene about a very boring event read in an interesting way? How to make a scene between two lovers feel 'real' without getting schmaltzy, or being over too quickly? I find that the issue of pacing is rarely dealt with in writing manuals and/or workshops, maybe because it's difficult to achieve. My suggestion would be to find somebody to read over what you've written. Tell them—face to face—what you hoped to achieve and what you feel is lacking—so they can look it over with this problem in mind. Sometimes another person's perspective or light-bulb idea can make all the difference. I know, because I've had this happen to me. Two heads can be better than one when you get stuck trying to solve any problem, including writing! After all, presumably you're ultimately writing for a reader who isn't yourself. So why not get his/her perspective early on?
I know this can be parallel to the topic of defeating the dreaded Writer's Block, but I'd like to hear about how fellow writers keep themselves going throughout the writing process. I ask this because I took an interesting approach to it and it has brought me to new heights in terms of overall vision and production. In my main novel, the protagonist plays hockey at one point for a team. To really get in the mood and the atmosphere of the story and what I was trying to achieve, I designed 3 shirts with the team name and his number on the back, had them made up, and had them sent to me. It wasn't too costly (maybe $70 for all three made and delivered). I wear them when I write, which is just another way to motivate myself to get it done. I also wear them out sometimes when I take a trip to a store or something, and it gives me a feeling of accomplishment in a strange sense. It's not typical I suppose, but it is a technique that has kept me committed to my writing in a way that doesn't involve me actually writing. So does anyone else have a story like that in which they do something to motivate themselves in interesting ways? ~~SP
I travel to places that I'm writing about any time i can. I also skip around in a larger manuscript sometimes, rewarding myself for writing out a dry descriptive portion by then going and doing something more climactic
I and KaTrian draw our MCs and put up the drawings above the computer screen while we write. It's not as much to remind us of how the characters look / what they wear, but to keep us in the proper mindset. We also do relevant things during longer breaks, i.e. if there's a gunfight coming up in the story, we might go to a gun range and shoot a bit, or if there's a horseback chase, we go riding etc. to help not only motivate us, but to make us remember all the neat little details about the things we are going to write about. I guess it's some kind of method writing, but whatever it's called, we love doing it, especially when we get to try something new because we're planning to write about it.
We try to do as much as we can. When we can, we look up information and interview experts on the subjects we can't experience ourselves, like interviewing a SEAL about underwater demolition exercises / missions although only in a general sense without delving into classified details about particular missions they've done, but stuff like the gear they tote with them, how they set up timers etc, or interviewing a nuclear physicists and doctors about radiation, nuclear power plants, and effects of radiation on people since we obviously don't have the time or resources to study / do everything we write about. That kind of research is also very interesting and enlightening even though not quite as fun as doing stuff yourself.
Your ex is buying a city??? SO COOL!!!!! Anyway, I too have fallen victim to the perils of breaking your routine once or twice and can understand how it can adversely affect your progress in your projects. Only thing you can do is create a new routine and start again.
What about the writing prompts on this site? Or the short story contests? You could just force yourself to participate, write a short story about the journey of a coffee bean from Guatemala to your favorite café and of all the other beans it meets on the way until it's horribly ground to powder alongside its newly-found coffee bean lover. Or something. It can be shit, but at least you'd get your routine going.
In order for me to write, I need to be in the right frame of mind. This usually happens when I feel an emotion in a strong way. Whenever I feel and sad, angry or full of joy, I will try to write a few thousand words or flesh out the characters or plot as many of my best ideas came this way. On occasion, I have deliberately made myself feel sad by watching Marley and Me or another sad film in order to break through any block I'm currently experiencing.
For me writer block is more of a lack of focusing on an idea, or allowing myself to get distracted than a lack of ideas. Video games are particularly insidious where that is concerned. It usually happens as a mix of feeling tired, not focused, and telling myself I am writing/would be writing only crap. I've stumbled upon a sentence about writing and now I've using it as a talisman to ward off those unworthy feeling, it's a simple one really: "Write, even if it's crap." Sound quite simple but it has managed to keep me writing an entire day, with few interruptions, multiple times. Also I've come to listen to music on headset instead of speaker, it isolates me more from the surrounding and allow me to focus on writing.
Hmmm does Writers Block exist? It's a weird one actually because I suffer with this big time. It's a psychological thing with me. I want to write but getting it out in some way that makes sense and is to my own standard is the tricky part. The main issue for me is perfectionism. I am a massive perfectionist. I know there is a second, third, four and hundredth draft but for me, I can't stand going onto the next page if I feel I haven't done my best. I also think that those "natural born writer" types (we all know the ones... the egotist, elitists) either can't admit to having periods of time where they can't get something out of their head or they choose not to. I get mighty stuck on the filler. I have huge set pieces. Elaborate scenes where I can get my teeth into a situation and really let it flow. It's the bits in the middle that I struggle with. I will be the first to admit that I am not an experienced writer like some. Oh and Hi! I am Michael
I used to be a creative writing major. I would write every single day and always be able to write from some simple emotion I was feeling, whether the emotion impacted me from a song, a conversation, sitting in a park looking at the people pass by. Obviously there are so many emotional stimulants in the world and I wanted those emotions to bleed through my work so others could see stories from a different perspective other than their own, one of the many reasons to read. I believe if one were to read their own life story compared to another's, they would find their own life the more boring of the two stories. We read to go to strange new places we've never been before. My writers block started when I was forced to return home, stripped of my books and my life of independence. Since then as I tried to rebuild my life, it would seem that these difficulties still haunt mo yes, writers block is real... I miss writing more than anything, but i've been through much in such a short amount of time, I can't even thinking about the risk of how for to the bottom I was
I completely understand what you mean. I went through a pretty rough patch myself and found that it was very difficult for me to write at all for a long time. It was as though there was no creativity left in me. I eventually forced myself out of it though. I think the secret is to just make yourself write even if its total garbage or complete nonsense. Sometimes just getting something down on paper is all it takes.
I once listened to an interview with Christopher Paolini in which he described a very difficult time he had in writing one of his books. He mentioned receiving some professional help. Perhaps if you have the means you could seek professional help to gain some assistance in re-organizing your life.
