Finding a second wind

[TheNightTerror]

Sorry if this has been dealt with before, but I was just wondering, what do you do to help you get back into gear and finish a story? Right now, I'm getting myself into quick-sand, and I need to get out fast. I've been writing like a maniac, I've gotten 453 pages done in the last 2 months.

Thing is, I haven't had any breaks, I've just been writing or sleeping, nothing else, and I'm burnt out beyond belief. I know exactly how the story ends, I just can't concentrate enough to get it done. I haven't been sleeping too much lately, while I never sleep well to begin with, it's been particularly bad lately. The summer heat combined with too much noise ain't going over too well with me.

One thing that's really starting to bother me is I know now that I'm probably going to have to cut a lot out of the story. I can see it breaking 500, maybe even 600 pages before I'm done. From what I've read here, that's too long of a novel for an unpublished author to be sending out to publishers. I've never even tried to cut out anything from a story, and I know I should probably try to keep what I write next as short as possible so I don't have to cut as much from the beginning. But I really just want to go and let it get as long as it wants to go. :( Ah, decisions, decisions.

Sorry about the little rant. :o For today, I'm probably just going to hang around and play computer games just to unwind a little, hopefully I'll be sleepy tonight. :Shrug:

[Carlene]

I'm certainly not an expert but have written nine novels, five published one more due out in December. I write until it's finished - then worry about editing, cutting, adding, screaming - whatever. Also, I think you HAVE to take breaks away from writing to fill the well! If all you ever do is write, eventually you'll run out of ideas, characters - stuff. Julia Cameron in her great book, "The Artist Way" recommends an Artist date once a week where you do something away from writing to fill the well. It doesn't have to cost money. Go for a long walk on the beach, go to a museum, a movie, an art gallery or a long lunch with friends. The possibilities are endless. I know I am a lot more creative if I get away from my work once in a while. Just my opinion.

Carlene

[La Reine]

Sorry if this has been dealt with before, but I was just wondering, what do you do to help you get back into gear and finish a story? Right now, I'm getting myself into quick-sand, and I need to get out fast. I've been writing like a maniac, I've gotten 453 pages done in the last 2 months.

Thing is, I haven't had any breaks, I've just been writing or sleeping, nothing else, and I'm burnt out beyond belief. I know exactly how the story ends, I just can't concentrate enough to get it done. I haven't been sleeping too much lately, while I never sleep well to begin with, it's been particularly bad lately. The summer heat combined with too much noise ain't going over too well with me.

One thing that's really starting to bother me is I know now that I'm probably going to have to cut a lot out of the story. I can see it breaking 500, maybe even 600 pages before I'm done. From what I've read here, that's too long of a novel for an unpublished author to be sending out to publishers. I've never even tried to cut out anything from a story, and I know I should probably try to keep what I write next as short as possible so I don't have to cut as much from the beginning. But I really just want to go and let it get as long as it wants to go. :( Ah, decisions, decisions.

Sorry about the little rant. :o For today, I'm probably just going to hang around and play computer games just to unwind a little, hopefully I'll be sleepy tonight. :Shrug:

How about you take a break and then come back and wrap the story up. Then you can move on to a second draft. That helped when I was writing my story and got stuck. I decided I probably had all of the first draft already and just needed to rearrange and polish what I had written.

[triceretops]

Well, you certainly are prolific--It took me 2 1/2 months for a 404 pager. And I thought I was fast. Mabe a break is in order--I do exactly the same thing you do--I go all out and marathon. Trouble is, the edit will takes months as well. So slow down a little and pace yourself.


Triceratops

[Jamesaritchie]

This goes along with what I said in another post. Too much writing can create burnout. The best way to get back into a story is to never get out of it, and the best way never to get out of it is to write enough to get the job done, but not so much that you burnout before it's finished. Take it slow and steady. Write enough each day to make steady progress, but not so much that you flame out and lose the story.

[scfirenice]

I feel your pain but you've already found your answer. I had finished 2 books in six months with a full time job, new baby, and no sleep. I was burnt, toasty even then I stumbled upon this website and found it's a great way to unwind. You're still doing something writing related; talking to other authors and reading others issues. You're not dealing with your books though. Take a few days and relax here. Go read about Brady's underwear...You'll be up to writing and you will do it much better after the well deserved break!!!

[TheNightTerror]

I write until it's finished - then worry about editing, cutting, adding, screaming - whatever.

I may just try that. :D

Julia Cameron in her great book, "The Artist Way" recommends an Artist date once a week where you do something away from writing to fill the well.

I usually try to stay up all day one day a week when I'm writing. I normally write only at night, so one day, I don't bother sleeping during the day. I try to kick back, but I normally end up doing something writing related, though.

I oughta go for another late night walk tonight. :Thumbs: It looks like it might rain today, walking in the rain while hiding from cars somehow really helps me get story ideas going again. I just learned not to do it nights I should be writing. Nothing sucks more than thinking of a perfect thing to add to the story while hiding in a ditch on a moonless night with no notepad a kilometer from home. :tongue

How about you take a break and then come back and wrap the story up. Then you can move on to a second draft. That helped when I was writing my story and got stuck. I decided I probably had all of the first draft already and just needed to rearrange and polish what I had written.

I've always been horrible for stopping and resuming writing. Basically, I can't. If I stop for more than a few days, I'm screwed. I had a very close call with this story, I slept no more than 2 hours a day for a week, I almost couldn't get started again. Naturally, that happened right before the first climax. I ended up having to axe a good 10-20 pages of perfectly fine stuff, then redo it all to get back into gear. Scared the hell out of me, but I got through.

Well, you certainly are prolific--It took me 2 1/2 months for a 404 pager. And I thought I was fast.

Sadly enough, that's not even the fastest I've ever gone. My record's 500 pages in 1 1/2 months. :faint: Sad thing is, I never thought I'd top that, and I'm just a stone throw from it. A week at the most, if I can just get into gear.

Mabe a break is in order--I do exactly the same thing you do--I go all out and marathon. Trouble is, the edit will takes months as well. So slow down a little and pace yourself.



Triceratops

I just wonder how I should go about taking a break without completely getting thrown. I may try another writing project -- I'm wondering about reviving an old walkthrough I almost did for Thief 2 over a year ago now. I'd need to get ready for it, it's for a specific style, which I haven't tried in over a year.

In theory, just getting ready for writing the walkthrough would make me run screaming back to the story. I know I could probably have help with it, I have a pal who helped me out a lot with my System Shock 2 walkthrough, (anyone here know the game?) and he has Thief 2 too. Odds are we could split the work, we could each take 7 1/2 missions, (I've mixed together our walkthroughs before, and they flowed fine) or he could take 8, and I could just say my HTML coding makes up for the missing mission.

It has just enough potential that I could get scared back to my story. :tongue

This goes along with what I said in another post. Too much writing can create burnout. The best way to get back into a story is to never get out of it, and the best way never to get out of it is to write enough to get the job done, but not so much that you burnout before it's finished. Take it slow and steady. Write enough each day to make steady progress, but not so much that you flame out and lose the story.

I just hope I haven't passed that point yet. I usually don't make very steady progress, I'll do 20 pages a day for a few days, then slow down to 10-15, jumping up to 20 when I'm writing a fun scene. I just write as much as I want to a day, no more, no less.

I feel your pain but you've already found your answer. I had finished 2 books in six months with a full time job, new baby, and no sleep.

How the . . . bloody hell. I would've dropped dead. No babies for me, my stories are my babies. :D

I was burnt, toasty even then I stumbled upon this website and found it's a great way to unwind.

Yeah, I love it here. :) I only wish I found it sooner. I had a nasty writer's block for a while, and I literally had it set in my mind -- unless I finished another story, the writing career I always wanted was never going to happen. I'm sure you can imagine how happy I was for that year and a half I couldn't write. :mad:

You're still doing something writing related; talking to other authors and reading others issues. You're not dealing with your books though. Take a few days and relax here. Go read about Brady's underwear...You'll be up to writing and you will do it much better after the well deserved break!!!

:ROFL: That could be interesting. And that, for some reason, just jarred my memory about a rather embarrassing incident that might make for an interesting thread. Sharing foul-ups when trying on clothes/shoes in a store. Could be interesting . . .