What do you do before you put your B In the C to write? Do you pray? Listen to music (if so, what)? Read? Draw? Spin in your chair? Pluck hairs from your head while whistling Yankee Doodle?
I only ask because recently, I've been having a hard time getting started. No matter how much time I spend in front of the screen, it feels like I'm approaching it cold, like I'm getting ready to run a marathon without training or stretching. At 20K of a 90-120K story, it's a daunting task, and every time I sit down, I feel this sinking feeling that makes me want to close my word documents and search for comics on the web.
Any advice?
Posted by Silver3 (Member # 2174) on :
I don't usually warm up, except if you count reading various forums (including this one ). Mostly, it's so I won't have the temptation to read them while I'm writing.
If your jheart is sinking every time you open the word processor, maybe it's your subconscious telling you to take a break from the story.
Posted by cvgurau (Member # 1345) on :
Mm, could be, but I'm on a deadline. Self-imposed, yes, but still.
Besides, it's not any one story. It's every story. I have two novels in the works, and a handful of short stories, and it's like this for every one of them.
Classical music seems to help (especially Bach, and Yo Yo Ma), but not much.
Posted by Silver3 (Member # 2174) on :
You could try taking a 1-2-day break, but it could definitely become troublesome.
When you say it happens with everything: do you get that feeling when you're beginning a novel/short story, or only when you're quite a way into it?
Posted by Leigh (Member # 2901) on :
System of a Down gets me motivated to write. I'm in the same vote as you are, 30k story, possibly capable of reaching 100k, and I fell like I've hit a shark in the water.
Posted by cvgurau (Member # 1345) on :
No, I've been taking too many breaks, not too few, and each time I sit down to write, I want to take another.
This doesn't seem to happen at any special point in the story, just randomly.
Posted by Silver3 (Member # 2174) on :
Hum. Sounds like the only advice I can give you is to get down to write even though you may not want to. You may feel like it's useless and you're writing rubbish, but plod on.
Posted by Susannaj4 (Member # 3189) on :
I start by putting on my headphones, choosing the music I'd like to hear, and if it's a scene involving action, I listen to the soundtrack from "Queen of the Damned". If it's a love scene I need to write, I go with some U2. Then I reread what I've already written. I can usually begin to hear the story in my mind and see it. I go from there and pray that I don't get interupted.
Posted by wbriggs (Member # 2267) on :
I daydream, about the story. I have to know where I'm going, or I can't get there. (I hear it's different for others.) I do it while walking, if it's short, or else I do it for days or weeks or years, while driving, sitting in meetings, whatever.
Posted by ethersong (Member # 3216) on :
I think it helps to try to get yourself excited about the story. Usually hard to do if your exceptionally bored of it. But if you're writing you most likely love writing so just take a few minutes to get yourself really into what you're doing. Like through the daydreaming.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Well, since I started working on these newfangled computer things, I often warm up by playing a game or two of Minesweeper or Spider Solitaire or Hearts or FreeCell or regular Solitaire.
If you're having trouble starting, well...try writing something, and stopping in the middle of a sentence. Then the next day, pick up where you left off, finish the sentence, and move on. If you stop when you think it's going well, you'll be eager to come back to it later.
Posted by AstroStewart (Member # 2597) on :
I'm not sure how much my advice can help, but honestly I find the best motivator for me in actually writing once I sit down at the computer is the lack of anything else to do. The vast majority of my novel was writtin on laptop and transferred to my main computer at a later time because it's much easier with a laptop to:
Unplug from internet. Take it somewhere where I won't be disturbed (or better yet, take it somewhere where people around me are working on something or other) Remove myself from my apartment filled with TV, books, video games, etc.
Basically, once I remove anything else to do and face the options of "do nothing or start writing" then I start writing. For me, personally, that initiation is the hardest part, as I tend to really get into what I'm doing very easily and not want to stop until I finish a chapter, once I've gotten the ball rolling.
I don't know if any of this is helpful, but it's what I've found to be true for myself.
Posted by x__sockeh__x (Member # 3069) on :
I sit down on my bed, take my laptop and headphones out, and listen to music while staring at the screen. The bands I listen to are SeeSaw (Japanese), Do As Infinity (Japanese), and Black Eyed Peas (English). Oh, and System of a Down (but only the slower songs, like Lonely Day and Soldier Side). I don't know how, but depending on what song I'm listening to I get in the mood. Try experimenting with different types?
Posted by pjp (Member # 3211) on :
Instead of just 'taking a break' take a break from _writing_. Think about a story you're working on, and see if it leads anywhere. If not, try another story.
If you've spent 'enough' time thinking about them and haven't made any progress, try some writing excercises. Maybe dialog between two characters... don't worry about it being related to the story (or even if the characters are related).
If you're having a hard time getting going again, I'm wondering if you aren't having doubts about how you've progressed. Maybe you don't really like how you've started various stories, and just haven't figured out what is 'wrong' with them.
Posted by benskia (Member # 2422) on :
Do you know what's going to happen next in your stories? Or are you stuck because you're making them up as you go along & not quite sure what's coming next?
Perhaps you need to spend some time off the computer & get some ideas down, along with a brief outline.
Posted by cvgurau (Member # 1345) on :
There's been a lot of good advice here, and I want to address some of it.
quote:Hum. Sounds like the only advice I can give you is to get down to write even though you may not want to. You may feel like it's useless and you're writing rubbish, but plod on.
As always, good advice. Like Hemingway said, "The first draft of everything is shit."
Smart man, that Hemingway.
quote:If you're having trouble starting, well...try writing something, and stopping in the middle of a sentence. Then the next day, pick up where you left off, finish the sentence, and move on. If you stop when you think it's going well, you'll be eager to come back to it later.
I've heard this before, and more often than not, it's good advice, but sometimes, the problem isn't being excited about what I'm going to write, it's liking what I've written. What seemed Pulitzer-worthy the night before might seem like trash today, and sometimes, I can't help but think that it'll never improve.
quote:I sit down on my bed, take my laptop and headphones out, and listen to music while staring at the screen. The bands I listen to are SeeSaw (Japanese), Do As Infinity (Japanese), and Black Eyed Peas (English). Oh, and System of a Down (but only the slower songs, like Lonely Day and Soldier Side).
I don't know how, but depending on what song I'm listening to I get in the mood. Try experimenting with different types?
I find classical music works (and System of a Down, for some reason), but I'll give your suggestions a shot.
quote:If you've spent 'enough' time thinking about them and haven't made any progress, try some writing excercises. Maybe dialog between two characters... don't worry about it being related to the story (or even if the characters are related).
Sounds good. I never write just to write anyway (it's always a story, not something that I know won't go anywhere but the garbage bin), so it might be good practice.
quote:If you're having a hard time getting going again, I'm wondering if you aren't having doubts about how you've progressed. Maybe you don't really like how you've started various stories, and just haven't figured out what is 'wrong' with them.
You could be right. Sometimes, it's especially hard to ignore that pesky voice that makes you doubt this word, or that sentence, that character, that storyline, that idea, or that whole novel and blaze on regardless.
Self-doubt sucks.
quote:Do you know what's going to happen next in your stories? Or are you stuck because you're making them up as you go along & not quite sure what's coming next?
Usually, I have an idea of the general direction I want to go, of the major characters, and the important scenes, and a few rules of magic or technology, but the minutia is made up as I go along. For the first draft, this is what works for me. I've only finished one novel (NaNo, 2005), and I haven't yet gone back to edit it, so what happens after I finish the first draft is kinda guesswork. I imagine that I'll outline what I have, and edit that to smooth out storylines and characters, but really, I'm shooting in the dark.
[This message has been edited by cvgurau (edited February 07, 2006).]
Posted by cvgurau (Member # 1345) on :
Oops. Double post.
[This message has been edited by cvgurau (edited February 07, 2006).]
Posted by Spaceman (Member # 9240) on :
Sometimes you have to force yourself to write if you are on deadline. If not, write something different. I'm a very streaky writer. I've had some trouble in other parts of my life over the past week and wrote about 500 words in about 7 days, but today, I slammed out 1000 words on my iPAQ, and only because I didn't finish the story yesterday. You probably just need to work on something different.
I read in Damon Knight;s book that one blocked writer would isolate himself from all media. No TV, no radio, no reading, no internet, no anything until the block was gone. He got so bored that his mind would start coming up with story ideas. He said the longest he ever stayed blocked was 4 days.
Posted by cvgurau (Member # 1345) on :
I don't have that kind of discipline.
Wish I did, tho.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
I'm told the late Frederic Brown used to take long bus rides, where he'd get so bored his brain would start generating ideas just to cope with the boredom. Though I have the resources to try this at this stage in my life, I never have the time, being a slave to a timeclock job right now. I find it tempting, though. If you're currently "between engagements," you might consider it.
Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :
You could ride the bus to and from work, eh? It doesn't have to be a long busride.
Posted by Marva (Member # 3171) on :
I do the laundry or vacuum. I hate these activities so much, I get very motivated to write.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
I believe Brown's bus rides lasted days...you've got to apply yourself greatly to get your brain working...
Posted by cvgurau (Member # 1345) on :
It's not ideas I have a problem with, but the application of those ideas. Inspiration is great (and easy), but comparing the original inspiration to the work it produces, it doesn't always measure up, and it often leaves me feeling downhearted. It's coming back to this, and realizing that it's not what I'd hoped it to be, then continuing on anyway, that's the challenge.
Posted by lyndafitz (Member # 3154) on :
If reading what you've written the last few days doesn't get you going (and that sounds like a big part of the problem), just remind yourself that first drafts are supposed to be garbage. They're sort of elongated outlines. I have heard that there are writers who submit their first drafts, but it takes me at least 2 drafts to get to the final. Editing, rewriting, is not my favorite activity, but it's essential for many of us. But not until AFTER you finish the first draft. Don't let your inner editor slow you down. I can also say that I'm not a good immediate judge of my own work. I had half a novel that I decided was trash shoved in a drawer for four years. When I dusted it off and read it again, I thought it was great!
There are always the other "tricks," like start writing it from a different point of view (if you're writing in first person, switch it to third) or write it from the persective of another character. Hokey, but they work.
