Writing Again

SoulzBaen · Jan 15, 2012

Hail and well met! Still new here, and still new with the mightiest weapon, the pen. I've scribbled a few things here and there, never completed but now, since the wife got me started last November for NaNo....

I wrote approximately 4k words in a new story, and then lost my train of thought, the will to continue, even the desire to write anymore.

I send excerpts to a friend of mine, let my wife and father read what I have and that seems to keep me going. After a week of stagnation, I decided to take another whack at it, and wouldn't you know it? 1461 words later....I had to stop for a migraine. I didn't even realize I'd written that much, I thought it was around 300 words or so.

Now to find a way to not lose interest or drive and to finish this book. I'm at 7k words total now, and just a rough draft at that. Any tips or suggestions to help the flow keep flowing?

Bufty · Jan 15, 2012

Just relax and go with the flow, friend. Take time off writing as and when needed.

And if the writing is flowing, just let it flow and follow it to 'the end'.

Tips and suggestions can be distracting. What works for one doesn't necessarily work for another.

SoulzBaen · Jan 15, 2012

Thanks for the tip. Hard to do when I have two little demons running around. I don't see any real relaxation for another 15 years, but I get a little when everyone is asleep.

Bufty · Jan 15, 2012

Know the feeling.

A little bit of writing every day or night soon adds up. Even thirty/forty minutes every night is a fair old whack over a year.

Good luck -have fun and don't drive yourself into the ground.

SoulzBaen said:
Thanks for the tip. Hard to do when I have two little demons running around. I don't see any real relaxation for another 15 years, but I get a little when everyone is asleep.

elindsen · Jan 15, 2012

I find some writers see others writing a novel a month and think they have to live up to that. You don't. Until you break into a writing flow, try 500 words a day. If you can keep going...great. set small goals. Writng = disipline

Bufty · Jan 15, 2012

Agreed.

Each to his own, but for someone with limited time, a time allocation does seem to offer less stress than feeling one may have to rush to meet a word target while also knowing one's time is restricted by circumstances.

elindsen said:
I find some writers see others writing a novel a month and think they have to live up to that. You don't. Until you break into a writing flow, try 500 words a day. If you can keep going...great. set small goals. Writng = disipline

SoulzBaen · Jan 15, 2012

I think my main word goal is still 50k, like it was in NaNo, but that's a goal, not a limit. The story will be done when it decides, not me and I'm in no hurry to get there, the story comes as it will.

Silver-Midnight · Jan 15, 2012

Bufty said:
Tips and suggestions can be distracting. What works for one doesn't necessarily work for another.

That's the truth.

bearilou · Jan 15, 2012

Bufty said:
Tips and suggestions can be distracting. What works for one doesn't necessarily work for another.

I want to build off this comment.

I'd also suggest not showing your work to anyone other than a trusted beta for brainstorming. Stop getting your family, your friends, your coworkers, your pet sitter, your pet, the garbageman's opinions. Find a person you can brainstorm with to get over humps but don't sent stuff out for validation of 'is this good? does this suck? would you read this if it were a published book?' For myself, that steals my energy and I lose the impetus and the will to even keep working on it.

That's me, though. :Shrug:

SoulzBaen · Jan 15, 2012

Actually, it works differently for me. I seem to get more of a push when a select few have a read, makes it more worth while. I only let three people read my work, and their input usually rings true with what I was thinking. Don't really need validation, it's usually input in the vein of "could this be worded better? would this be a better way of showing this?"

I personally don't care if it sucks. I'm not really writing for everyone right now. If I like it, then I know someone else out there will like it, and that's what counts. And the trusted few who actually read it have no problem pointing out problems, they don't pull punches.

My wife and I work on collaborations, so her input helps alot when I get stuck. My father has only read it once, pointed out a few things that I thought needed retooling as well. My best friend David and I sit at Denny's and write and talk. He reads what I have and gives me an outside perspective on my direction, implementation and the overall presentation of my story.

bearilou · Jan 15, 2012

SoulzBaen said:
Actually, it works differently for me. I seem to get more of a push when a select few have a read, makes it more worth while. I only let three people read my work, and their input usually rings true with what I was thinking. Don't really need validation, it's usually input in the vein of "could this be worded better? would this be a better way of showing this?"

Guess this shows, once again, what works for one person doesn't work for another. I can get all tied up in getting input into something that is in the works, to the point that I get nothing done because I'm too busy trying to incorporate the input I've received instead of writing.

I'd love to have it, but I know that even though the input/advice is good and I can use it, it's still detrimental to me putting words down on the page.

SoulzBaen · Jan 15, 2012

I have to agree with distractions though. I generally can't write on my main computer. Dual screens, 10 icons for various games, 2.8TB of movies on external, Facebook, IM's......

Oh no! I just realized that I've been surfing these forums more than the latter of late.....don't tell me AW is now a distraction!

Bufty · Jan 15, 2012

Are you the same poster who started this thread?

SoulzBaen said:
I have to agree with distractions though. I generally can't write on my main computer. Dual screens, 10 icons for various games, 2.8TB of movies on external, Facebook, IM's......

Oh no! I just realized that I've been surfing these forums more than the latter of late.....don't tell me AW is now a distraction!

SoulzBaen · Jan 15, 2012

Yep. Proof that I am easily distracted of late

Pyekett · Jan 15, 2012

SoulzBaen said:
I have to agree with distractions though. I generally can't write on my main computer. Dual screens, 10 icons for various games, 2.8TB of movies on external, Facebook, IM's......

Oh no! I just realized that I've been surfing these forums more than the latter of late.....don't tell me AW is now a distraction!

Your thread made me realize that it is time to be writing. Butt, chair, hands, keyboard.

It really is different for each of us, and sometimes what works at one time doesn't work at another, even for the same person.

What works for me of late is sitting there, poised, and not forcing it. I don't have to write, but I don't let myself do anything else but sit with the not writing. It can get tedious, and at the point of tedious comes inspiration, or at least motivation.

Good luck.

Bufty · Jan 16, 2012

And guess what - what we each pick as our priorities is up to us. :poke:

SoulzBaen said:
Yep. Proof that I am easily distracted of late

quicklime · Jan 16, 2012

Bufty said:
And guess what - what we each pick as our priorities is up to us.

QFT.....albeit as someone who spends WAY too much time here....

Phaeal · Jan 16, 2012

There is only one perfume that entices the Muse, and that's the sweat on the brow of a writer working hard.

Pick a daily word count goal. Make it low at first, as little as 250, then build up as you can.

Write at least five days a week.

Try to write at about the same time every day.

Don't stop to worry at your first draft (or to have other people worry at it.) Just get it finished. It may be that the biggest stumbling block to becoming a writer is to FINISH WHAT YOU START.

crunchyblanket · Jan 16, 2012

For various reasons, I find it hard to stick to a set target. So I set it as low as possible. 250 words a day. I will not leave my chair until they're on the page. Eight times out of ten, I'll actually write more than that, but at least I can guarantee I'll be 250 words better off at the end of each day. Slow progress is still progress.

SPMiller · Jan 16, 2012

For the first draft of my first novel, I set a goal of 500 words per day. After I finished the second draft, I did the (simple) arithmetic on all of my work up to that point and found that I had only managed about 393 words per day. Note that this is far, far below the production rate you need to make a living as a writer. If you can't manage several times better, keep your day job.

BethS · Jan 16, 2012

SoulzBaen said:
. Any tips or suggestions to help the flow keep flowing?

Try to write every day, even if it's only a little. This builds momentum and good habits.

Both are crucial to finishing.

SoulzBaen · Jan 16, 2012

I tried setting word count goals, but every time, no matter how low, the numbers were daunting and I could never even get started. When I actually sit down to write and get something flowing, I'm not thinking of numbers. I usually have a particular scene in my head, or at least the beginnings of one, and then I can't stop till it's out of my head.
Being a natural editor, it's hard not to constantly go back over and check for errors. I don't even have a spell check on my normal word pad, I Copy/Paste into OpenOffice later to get my word count. I ignore any mistakes until I get to a particular point, edit them, then move on.
Building a routine around 2 hyper and erratic children is difficult. Especially when you are getting ready for homeschooling.

I'm not particularly interested in "making a living" as a writer. Indeed, I don't even take the title of Writer. I'm a scribbler, a doomed mind with characters that want to have their say and I'm their only outlet to the page. I'd like to tell a good story, but in truth, it's not even my story, they're telling it to me, I'm just putting it down for them.

Phaeal · Jan 16, 2012

Do or do not; there is no try.

SoulzBaen · Jan 16, 2012

Phaeal said:
Do or do not; there is no try.

Heh. Yes, Master Yoda. For me, setting word count goals (besides the end goal of 50k) is a distraction. It'll be done when it's done, I have no idea how many words it will be.

bearilou · Jan 16, 2012

I trick myself in to word count goals.

I write in timed increments. 25 minutes at a pop*. I just write, not stopping to edit, correct or anything. My goal for the next 25 minutes (and I set a timer) is to write nonstop.

I know my output for 25 minutes of writing, the lower limit and the upper limit and how they'll help with my daily word goals. I keep doing the 25 minutes until I have my daily count.

*I used to do 15 minutes. 25 is more productive for me.

Writing Again

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