You know what I mean??

jennifer75 · Sep 29, 2008

Ever feel if you could just clear your mind of all the day to day crap, the little things that don't go away; responsibilities of being a husband,wife, mother, father, student, teacher, whatever - if your mind was just free of any crap, if even for just one day, you could write the best story ever? The best adventure, mystery, horror, comedy, drama, love story would emerge, if it weren't for the horrors of your life, crammed in your mind, at the moment?

It's like you can feel it, screaming to come out, but you just can't break free from the sh!t.

That's how I feel.

If I could go away, for however much time, I know I could pull something creative out of my head.

This is why I think I've only been able to write true shorts, and also why my WIP is a memoir; because I don't have the mental space to be creative enough to get something on paper.

What are your thoughts?

Shadow_Ferret · Sep 29, 2008

But I do get away when I write. Once I enter my special place, all that other stuff goes away and I'm just faced with my imagination and the story.

Maybe I'm odd but I can tune out the real world like nobody's business.

Red-Green · Sep 29, 2008

Like Ferret, I have the special place where I go inside my head where real life doesn't exist. Sometimes I only get to go there for twenty or thirty minutes a day, but I always go there.

NeuroFizz · Sep 29, 2008

I agree with Ed and Red (no, this is not going to be a poem). I've known a few beginning writers who've expressed the same problem, but when an opportunity arrives, they piss it away with little nags--the writing space isn't just right, the e-mail has to be answered, the coffee isn't made, AW is beckoning... Probably the best way to develop writing discipline is to be able to write in those odd times when a few minutes present themselves. It doesn't have to be directed writing, or even writing prose. The other side of it all is to take Uncle Jim's advice and clear a time during the day (an hour or two) for nothing but writing. If you have to, cut your AW time in half and use the other half for only writing. In my opinion (and again based on my own personal experience), too many writers waste opportunities worrying that the perfect writing time/environment isn't available. Just sit down and get to it.

Also, isn't it from all of those day-to-day activities, joys and frustrations that details of stories emerge?

CaroGirl · Sep 29, 2008

My head is too cluttered to be able to answer that question right now.

Seriously, though, I think it's something we need to train ourselves to do: turn off the "noise" of our lives and focus on only the story in front of us, whether we have 5 hours to do so, or 5 minutes. There will never be the "perfect" time to write, any more than there's the perfect time to have kids or the perfect time to quit snorting cocaine. If we waited until there was nothing going on in our lives whatsoever we'd be writing from the grave. I mean, who wants nothing going on in their life anyway?

You can do it!

qwerty · Sep 29, 2008

I hear what you're saying, Jennifer. For years I kept notes, promising myself I would one day write that book or two. But I was bringing up children and making sure my husband came from a demanding, any hours of the day or night job to a comfortable, stress-free home. Then, when the kids were grown, hubby and I ran a business together.

Just me, but I wasn't able to concentrate on writing in short, occasional bursts because I'm a do it fully or don't do it at all sort of person. I wrote my first book when I was fifty. There were still demands on my time and things I had to think about and deal with, but I had more space and time for ME. And I'd learned how to use it.

jennifer75 · Sep 29, 2008

KTC said:
join me in Northern Ontario for the Muskoka Novel Marathon.

Wheeeere for the whaaaaaat?????

I'm going to work on a weekend for me. Free from the kid and the S.O.

CaroGirl · Sep 29, 2008

KTC said:
You and Judg actually have no excuse not to join me in Huntsville next year. You're closer, aren't you??? It's a free weekend of luxurious non-stop writing. Just bring a sleeping bag.

I'm in!

qwerty · Sep 29, 2008

Jennifer, Caro, what KTC said - GO FOR IT.

willietheshakes · Sep 29, 2008

KTC said:
Quoted for truth. I'm holding you to it. Now click on Muskoka Novel Marathon in my sig-line and then click on the countdown clock on the site. That's how much time you have to plan attending (284 days!) . No excuses. Be prepared to write about 30-40 K words in one weekend. Oh...and be prepared to have the TIME OF YOUR LIFE.

/derail.

July you say...

Hmm.

jennifer75 · Sep 29, 2008

What's crazy is that I take time, once a week or maybe more, to post a blog entry. BUT, my blog is a "memoir-roll" so to speak. It's events from my past, short story-issh, that take about 15 minutes of my time to post.

But I do it. I guess that's good.........right?

vixey · Sep 29, 2008

KTC said:
Quoted for truth. I'm holding you to it. Now click on Muskoka Novel Marathon in my sig-line and then click on the countdown clock on the site. That's how much time you have to plan attending (284 days!) . No excuses. Be prepared to write about 30-40 K words in one weekend. Oh...and be prepared to have the TIME OF YOUR LIFE.

/derail.

I'm not sure this is a derail. I think you it would be great if we could block out time and get together with other writers (particularly ones we've gotten to know here) and do a novel marathon. You're lucky to be so close to something available to you in Canada. Rock on!!

And I've spent days away from the fam for the sole purpose of writing. It's wonderful!

CaroGirl · Sep 29, 2008

willietheshakes said:
July you say...

Hmm.

I'll go if you go. Heck, I think I'm going either way! How exciting.

bramble · Sep 29, 2008

I find that RL melts away when I write, but RL can interfere with finding the time to write. I read an author's interview with Mary Higgins Clark and she said the difference between a "real" writer and everyone else is a writer will make time to write, even if it means loosing an hour of sleep or skipping lunch.

Ooh, what a decadent idea. Go to a hotel for a weekend and just write. Should be a tax deductible expense right? Right?

vixey · Sep 29, 2008

bramble said:
Go to a hotel for a weekend and just write. Should be a tax deductible expense right? Right?

Yes - if you earn money writing

. Can't deduct for it until you earn from it.

willietheshakes · Sep 29, 2008

Truth be told, I actually have a better time shoehorning writing into my daily life than in getting away from it all in order to write. Perhaps it's because I do have routines (up at 3.30 to write, revising primarily on the weekends), and because I'm so damn busy, but when I go away or take time off with the expressed intent of writing, I tend to ... not use the time as I had planned. I can fritter away time off and time away like nobody's business, but I tend to be very productive in the day to day.

Samantha's_Song · Sep 29, 2008

That's exactly how am too. Hubby can have the TV playing in the background and I'll still be writing away. If he doesn't have the TV on, then I have talk radio or music of my own choice playing when I'm writing, none of it interrupts me and my work.

Shadow_Ferret said:
But I do get away when I write. Once I enter my special place, all that other stuff goes away and I'm just faced with my imagination and the story.

Maybe I'm odd but I can tune out the real world like nobody's business.

Phaeal · Sep 29, 2008

Ah, the getting away dream! It's a lovely one, but more practical is learning to get away in your real life for that hour or two a day that produce solid work.

The marathon sounds great. I'll check out the website.

jennifer75 · Sep 29, 2008

For me, it's not so much a "time" thing. If I know what I want to write, I can write it; in the middle of the living room during a football game, in my sons room, at work, on the bus, which ever. It's clearing my mind in order to "create" something ficticious that I can not do because my mind is too bogged down with day to day cr@p. It's the creativity thing that I'm lacking because I can't focus.

And that is when I get frustrated, because I really really really want to try and pound something out that isn't a retelling of my childhood.

But, I can't focus.

johnstmoonpie · Sep 29, 2008

My mind is constantly swirling, filled with both ideas and worries. When I can take the worries and hide them away, I find the ideas jump out at me very clearly.

I find it hard to hide my worries at times, though.

tehuti88 · Sep 29, 2008

jennifer75 said:
Ever feel if you could just clear your mind of all the day to day crap, the little things that don't go away; responsibilities of being a husband,wife, mother, father, student, teacher, whatever - if your mind was just free of any crap, if even for just one day, you could write the best story ever? The best adventure, mystery, horror, comedy, drama, love story would emerge, if it weren't for the horrors of your life, crammed in your mind, at the moment?

...

This is why I think I've only been able to write true shorts, and also why my WIP is a memoir; because I don't have the mental space to be creative enough to get something on paper.

As much as I loathe to say it, I think if I DIDN'T have all the havoc going on in my head, I probably wouldn't write very well at all. Maybe because I already don't have all those responsibilities that normal people have, and I don't get out or socialize much, hence my only real "experience" of life and relationships comes from the chaos going in in my head. If I didn't have that, I'd have nothing.

Though it would be nice if the chaos came without all the depression and anxiety.

And I'd probably have more time and might be able to better focus on stuff.

But if I didn't have all that stuff going on mentally I probably would have nothing to draw on to write about.

And I just know I'm going to regret admitting that.

...

Could really do without most of the depression and anxiety.

jennifer75 · Sep 29, 2008

tehuti88 said:
As much as I loathe to say it, I think if I DIDN'T have all the havoc going on in my head, I probably wouldn't write very well at all.

But if I didn't have all that stuff going on mentally I probably would have nothing to draw on to write about.

Oh totally. I have a ton of material I can use if I could just FOCUS. hehe.

AndreaA · Sep 29, 2008

Shadow_Ferret said:
But I do get away when I write. Once I enter my special place, all that other stuff goes away and I'm just faced with my imagination and the story.

Maybe I'm odd but I can tune out the real world like nobody's business.

It took a fews years of practice but I can do that now too. And it's kind of comforting knowing it's there for me to run away to when life gets crazy.

Judg · Sep 30, 2008

KTC said:
You and Judg actually have no excuse not to join me in Huntsville next year. You're closer, aren't you??? It's a free weekend of luxurious non-stop writing. Just bring a sleeping bag.

This sounds interesting.

zornhau · Sep 30, 2008

No

jennifer75 said:
Ever feel if you could just clear your mind of all ....[snip]
What are your thoughts?

Writing is the way I clear my mind. And the time is there if you make it.

And, I use outlines in order to craft stories for novels. Each is about the same length as a short story...(hint).

You know what I mean??

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