Some days, starting to write is harder than it should be. A vital part of the writer’s craft is getting through this hard part. You’ve got to get the words out.
On a good day.
Sometimes, everything works. You know what it’s like. Some days, you sit down, think quickly about what you’re going to write, take a deep breath…
Time passes…
And you emerge, tired but satisfied, a few hundred (or thousand!) words later, content with what you’ve done. You had some output. Got the article or chapter done. It might need some reviewing, but you can go reward yourself with a cup of hot chocolate and an episode of The Wire.
The Bad Days of Writing
Sometimes, that’s not going to happen. You might not have slept well enough. You might have had an argument with someone, got a depressing email, had a swathe of bills come in. You might have a splinter under a fingernail. You could be cranky. Sleepy. Hungry. Gassy.
Sometimes, a little bellowing can be cathartic.
That’s OK! Sometimes what you need is a little kick in the pants. What you need is a little upside-the-head slapping. You’ve just got to sit down, start, and power through the resistance. Now, this isn’t for every day. If you have to force yourself to do this every time you sit down to write, there’s something deeper going on. Make sure you’re not lying to yourself. If there’s a bigger problem than one or two days of stuckness, this approach isn’t going to hekp you get past that.
A Kick In The Writing Butt
Time to get ready for a session. Here is a list of 7 simple things you can do, in twenty minutes or less, that will make get you ready.
1. Go to the toilet
Don’t take anything to read. You don’t want to interrupt yourself later. Don’t rush, but don’t dawdle.
2. Turn off your mobile phone
Go on, turn it off. How long are you going to write for? 2,000 words? Two hours? Nothing is going to need your attention in that time. Turn off your goddamn phone.
3. Turn off the Internet
No, you do not need the Internet. Not even to do research. If you need to research something, put a [placeholder] in what you’re writing and come back later. If the Internet is accessible, then you’ll be tempted to just ‘flick’ over to Twitter, Facebook, Google Reader… And then half an hour will have slid by when you aren’t writing anything. Switch off your modem. Disconnect it if needs be.
4. Grab a glass of water and a snack
No excuses to get up while you’re writing. Your snacks can be as healthy or disastrous as you want. I don’t care.
5. Turn on all the lights
Make sure the writing environment is a happy, productive, warm, welcoming one. Don’t work under a fluorescent light if you can help it. I don’t care if your desk is messy, if the room’s had something explode in it… None of that is important. Feeling good in your writing environment is, and warm, yellow light is the quickest way to achieve that.
6. Experiment with music
Try playing some music. Ideally, you want something that pumps you up but without overpowering lyrics. I’m a fan of Immediate Music, who make nicely generic, trailer-style music for Hollywood consumption. If you think it’s going to distract you, skip this.
7. Set a firm limit and start.
Set a word limit, not a time limit. Make it achievable. 500 to 1,000 words is enough. Make sure you write enough that you can finish, stand up, walk away, and go ‘Hey, today wasn’t the greatest in terms of output, but I wrote something.”
Hit your limit. Even if it hurts. Then stop and walk away. Get a housemate or spouse to high five you.
Fantastic!
You did it! You pushed through an uncomfortable spot and got some writing done. Sure, it might not have been your best, but the important thing is that you did it. You didn’t give in to the fallacy of ‘writer’s block’.
Bookmark this page, or print it out and tape it to the wall. The next time you sit down and immediately feel stuck, look over this list, do it all, and you know you’re on the way to writing success.
What have I missed? What other ways can you think of to push through that feeling of stuck-ness? Write a comment below or email me, editor@write-thing.com
Cheers;
Pip
Yay, The Wire! That is also one of my self reward tv shows along with Fringe.
I think for me my writing stops flowing when I’m not excited by what I wrote before anymore. Sometimes it’s the quality of the writing of the last chapter and sometimes it’s the plot or the characters.
When I get a ‘block’ I try to kickstart myself by writing the most explosive, punchy first sentence I can. Sometimes it’s something absolutely absurd which I then later explain in the rest of the scene/ chapter.
If for some reason that fails I walk away, do some housework or other mindless task and spend the time self-marinating in my plot and characters letting my subconscious do the work. Usually about half way through scrubbing the toilet porcelain I’ll have that ‘Eureka’ moment and run bleach-soaked through the house scrabbling for paper and pen.
number three may be the most important one. sometimes (usually three times a week) i go onto the internet to research some little detail, when BAM! it’s been four hours.
when will you update?
Soon enough. I’ve got 6 or 7 linked article s’ve been working on, but I’m also *this close* to finishing the first draft of a novel I’ve been working on, and unfortunately I’ve let the site slip.
If you’re after things to keep you entertained, can I suggest my sister site, http://www.hyper-critical.net ? I’ve been posting reviews and interviews of Speculative Fiction authors up there for a few weeks now, and Write-Thing will focus more closely on the writing aspects instead of being a general dumping ground for my ideas.
Rosanna;
Great question.
My first response would be to commit to writing a small amount of actual _story_ each day, in addition to any research you want to do. you can alway fine tune what you’ve written later. The most important thing to do is to start writing. Try a program like Write or Die (Google it). Get those 500 words out. Then research.
Letting research get in the way of telling the story just slows you own and may result in you not actually finishing your story.
when will more articles be added
