well do you? it's like sometimes, i know what i want to write, but i can't find the words to write it. i don't want to write some half-assed garbage, but i just can't come up with the right words... well, what do you do?
Sometimes I do try and force it, but it always turns out trash so I tend not to do it often. But when I do, I spend a lot of time editing and playing around with it, sometimes DAYS on just one paragraph until I get it right, so it always works out in the end. It's just a slow and tedious process.
If I waited till I was hyper-inspired to write, I wouldn't finish anything. Always stopping when I still have an idea of what to write next helps. I can get back into the frame of mind by remembering that train of thought.
. If you wait until you've got the right words, that creative moment and idea may well pass. Get anything down to preserve the thought, and tweak it later. He who hesitates...
+1 The first draft is merely the means to an end, and getting stuff down matters more than anything. If you can't find the words to actually write something, perhaps make a few notes, move on to something else, and come back to it later.
I sometimes find that the only way to find the right words is to get something - anything - on the page. Once I see it, I can always go from there.
Usually this hitch in writing, for me anyway is caused from overthinking, pushing it. I free associate - by opening a word-doc or grabbing a sheet of paper. A good way to take the pressure off is not to be concerned with anything - just type away letting one word spark a dozen others, let the vision grow, expand. Don't stop, don't read what you write then when you're done - look it over you'll be surprised at the gems you'll find.
I improve all my writings. My genius flows through my writing so brilliantly and elegantly, that I find it degrading to myself to over look my mastery. I look at all my writings as extensions of myself. In philosophy they call attributes of a thing properties. All my writings are properties, they're symbolic representations of my cognitive faculties. My cognitive faculties being great, inhibits my writings from being sub par.
I try to avoid it, but if I've gone a while without writing, then, yes, I do force it. I sit down and say "This is what happens next in the story. Just write it..." and I force the words out, keeping in mind the whole time "It sucks, but you can fix it later. It sucks, but you can fix it later."
I push it if I have to. Putting something on a page is better than nothing. Besides, if it isn't salvageable in its own right, it could lead to something else.
The narration is only one aspect of storytelling. Write the garbage, as long as it fits into a framework. I'm a plotter, so I know the ending before I start, I also know how the story will go. Inbetween that, I kinda write by the seat of my pants (creative juices flow). Story structure is important to me and my processes. What can I say?! I don't push myself, I accept drafting can be crap. Stop that editing and analytical part of the mind, and go for it!
I feel the same way from time to time but I have gotten a lot better at just writing down the general idea of what I wanted to convey. I can always go back and add more color later. This one time a few weeks ago when I was stuck on how to start a chapter, it all just came to me. I was out walking, and everything just played in my mind like a movie, as if a narrator was telling me a story. I got home as quickly as I could and just typed out the whole thing word for word like I had heard it, totaling 950 words, but those times are rare and long between. Normally I just sit down and write, having a general idea of where I want the story to go. If I sit for too long to think up the perfect sentence I end up with no idea how to keep on going. I have to have some kind of flow to my writing, otherwise the story seems forced, and ends up being a lot worse than if I spend less time one each sentence and go back later to rewrite.
Go ahead and write it anyway you can get it out--shitty or otherwise. That's what first drafts are made for. Just get it out. All writing is re-writing.
I try to write on a daily basis and sometimes that means forcing myself to sit down and put words to paper. As a procrastinator and easily distracted, this is the only way I've found to get a writing project done. Inspiration isn't always present.
exactly. I look at it like this. your 1st draft is the skelington, its not gonna be pretty, but once you have it down you can add the muscles, tendins, skin, hair.... but you have to start somehwere. Even if its forced its a start. Once its down you can actually see whats wrong with it, then make changes. If there is nothing down, you cant change anything
I generally force it to get the gist of what I want to say (so I don't forget) Then I go back and alter it to better portray what needs to be said. This is why editing is the best part.
I agree. I find that sometimes due to hectic life schedules get in the way but when writing time is there i will force it if i have to or else nothing comes out. However, once i do force it onto the page it usually spurs more of my imagination, then i expand on it, and the right words will come then i can go back and re word it. Its always better than staring at a blank page.
I have forced it out some times and it always turns out to be a giant pile of garbage and I either throw it out or I might take the garbage I have written and make it better. But that depends entirely on my feelings about the project.
There are a lot of times when I start writing and then there's that one area where I know what I want to write--I can picture it perfectly in my head--but the words escape me. What I normally do is sit there and think about the words I want, and this could take a few minutes. What I really should do is just continue to write. Make an underscore of the area where you want to write that certain thing and let it come back to you later. There have been times I just draw an em-dash and skip to the next paragraph in order to continue writing.
