Hey all, So I'm working on my first novel right now. I've finished a first draft and am currently working on a second draft (might as well consider it a re-write, so much has changed for the better). However, I'm having a slight issue. Often times I simply don't have an urge to get writing. I don't know what it is, but I can't work on anything I'm writing unless I feel absolutely passionate about it or "in the zone". I'm absolutely passionate about my project and plan to get it published. Getting "in the zone" is more of the issue for me. When I'm not in that zone, I just can't write. I stare at the computer, write a few sentences or paragraphs, and then go back and delete them or just leave them because I don't feel like they've worked out very well. I don't feel the passion in myself and, therefore, don't feel the passion in the words. When I don't feel it, I just can't write. It's such a struggle, because I often have a big day of writing (the other night I just felt it and wrote about 10+ pages, and I can do it from time to time). It's odd. I feel as if I'm doing something wrong, or my characters aren't deep enough, or something isn't right... it takes more to get me excited about this draft. When I re-work a scene and character, it helps, but not all the time. That being said, there is a major difference in my quality of writing when I just can feel it pumping through me, and the times where I'm forcing myself to write it just feels so... wrong. Like something cannot be right with these words. Does anyone else have this issue? How would you combat them, or advice you might have? Hope you all are having a wonderful day!
I think everyone encouters this from time to time. For me, I try to remember the last time I was pumped up to write and try to trigger that feeling again. I also think about something off the wall - randomly entertaining to me and just write it down, even if it has nothing to do with what I'm currently working on. It sparks the creative flow. I've tried writing drunk... honestly didn't help much.
Sometimes it helps to get a bit of distance. Don't feel obliged to write every day - especially if you just find yourself tinkering. I know there are people who tell you you MUST, but they are the people for whom writing to schedule works. You don't have to do what they do. Do what works for you instead. Try walking away from the story -even the computer! - for a week or so. If you're meant to be a writer, the urge will return. Distance can re-engage you with your story, and make you see flaws more easily. Also, giving the whole thing time to cook in your subconscious can be helpful. I find it helps me to go for a long outdoor walk along familiar routes (so you don't have to pay a lot of attention to where you're going.) There is something about walking that engages the right side of the brain. Take a notebook with you and scribble down any ideas that come to you during your walk. You'll often find you can't wait to get home and try them out.
leave it, take a step back, What Jannert said about taking a walk is worth paying attention to, or go to a completely different environment with your story and see where that goes, i did that with my horror piece on occasion (i must do this again as ive run out of ideas) whether it a cafe, library or pub, go somewhere were you can sit, pen and paper (or laptop if thats what you have, or hard copy of what you have typed if its a desktop) and sit and write... use your different surroundings to your advantage
. Athletes exercise regularly, and push themselves. It's often advocated that writers do the same for mental stimulation - write every day. But if an athlete just has one of those days where to push is folly, then they don't do it. There's no requirement to exercise every day. And neither should there be for the writer. Now and then you need a day or two off. Write when you feel like it - unless it's purely for the discipline of writing something every day.
For me, forcing myself in the chair, makes me get "into the zone" after a page or so. Then it's all down hill from there. However, I don't write seven days a week. I write five days a week. You need time to, "recharge," over the weekend, so when you come back on Monday, you are looking at your work with "fresh" eyes.
If I just had a fight with my girlfriend, I can't write. Not one word. If I feel ill, I similarly get nothing at all. I write myself into corners eight different ways, when I am sick. Not sniffles-sick; flu sick. I have no idea why. Other than that, I could write every day, if time allowed! I love it!
This might sound strange but I look at my writing as an extension of myself, from characters, struggles, dramas, whatever. Sometimes I run into a wall because it can take time to sort out my life. It really isn't that I can't write, it is more that I haven't found personal clarity on an issue, whatever that is. I go inward to find out what bothers me, where am I causing the most problems in my life, who am I having problems with, and recognize it for what it is and solve the problem. Life always flows better when I stay true to that and writing is an extension of that practice.
