Trying something to get the writing done

I find small chunks with small rewards to work best - in college, it was 'read one chapter, you can download an MP3. Read another chapter, you can play a game of Snood.' (Now guess when I went to college.) Today it's 'fix one thing in the manuscript, you can read an article on Slate. Fix the next thing, you can check FB.'

I find the part I have to force is not the writing itself; once I'm in it, I'm in it until I'm done for the day. (I found weekly word count goals to be much more useful than daily, as I'd write 2,500 words at a time and then skip a couple days.) What I have to force myself to do now, especially that I'm in nebulous revision land, is go to the computer, open the Word doc, and DO SOMETHING. The writing part is still pretty enjoyable once I get over all the mental crap in my way.

matthew86 said:

I don't think it's gonna work like that.
Every writer needs inspiration to write.
You shouldn't force yourself.

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If I waited for 'inspiration', I'd get nothing done.

I sit down to the keyboard and I start writing, even if it's dreck. My 'inspiration' knows where to find me if it wants to cooperate.

bearilou said:

If I waited for 'inspiration', I'd get nothing done.

I sit down to the keyboard and I start writing, even if it's dreck. My 'inspiration' knows where to find me if it wants to cooperate.

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Yeah...Pretty much all my inspiration comes when I'm already in the process of writing...

Disable your Internet (you can use an app such as Anti Social or Freedom for that) for a certain time, or go somewhere where you have no Internet access. You could also write longhand (no distractions on a piece of paper!) or use something like an Alphasmart Neo to get your writing done without distractions.

WriterDude said:

It won't work. Physically tear yourself from e distractions. Take a pen and paper to park and write eight sides of A4. Then go home and type it.

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Agreed. Your mind gets fragmented by all those distractions. Kill the internet. I forget who it was, but he wrote in a room with just a desk on a PC, that had its wireless board ripped out and the ethernet port filled with epoxy.

I don't believe you need to write everyday, personally I prefer longer writing blocks where I pump out 10-15 pages at a time. That said, the initial draft isn't my favorite part, but rather the re-writing that I do a little bit everyday.

I don't wait for inspiration, but I do wait to have some proper idea of where the story needs to go next. Simply sitting down and writing, with no sense of direction, doesn't yield anything, for me, but horseshit that has no business tainting my PC's RAM, let alone the hard drive proper or actual paper.
Paradoxically, I can't come up with that new, needed direction whilst sitting down at the keyboard. I have to be doing something else, often sitting in bed.

I've got no qualms whatsoever about no having gotten anything written today (as yet), because what I'll eventually write, when I figure what needs to be done, will be infinitely better than what I could have written today if I'd forced it.

dondomat said:

I have no problem with the term "force myself", because in essense that's what I do in life. I force myseelf to not smoke and to eat healthy, I force myself to be a good husband, I force myself to write, I force myself to take walks, and I force myself to get out of bed. If I didn't "force myself", I'd be a slacker who stays in bed until 14.00, then begins the day proper, which would be on a steady diet of burgers, 2-3 packs of cigarettes, in a constant haze of drunkeness, and boinking whoever I can persuade to take her panties off. Of course we "force ourselves" to do things. Let's be honest. We "force ourselves" to not squat on the pavement and poop there, but instead to hold it in until we find a toilet, and so on. Being a citizen is woven out of a million ways of "forcing yourself".

Concerning working without access to the internet--the internal saboteur will say: "but I have to research shit, I NEED the internet"--and in order to not fall for that I suggest telling oneself that at any time during the drafting when some research is needed--one marks the place and moves on. And later, at some point, do the research and fill stuff in.

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I force myself to do a lot of things, as well, but they're always things I don't really want toi do, but must do. If I had to force myself to be a good husband, I would never have married. That's something I do because it makes me happy, and there is no force myself to it.

How many have to force themselves to play their favorite video games, or watch their favorite movies, or to go out on the town with friends? We all have to force ourselves to do things we'd rather not do, but if you have to force yourself to do things that should be done because you love them, you'll get nowhere.

Maybe it's no more than a mindset, but I can't think of anything worse than a life where I had to force myself to do everything. I couldn't and wouldn't live that way. When love is involved, you shouldn't have to force yourself to do whatever it is, whether it's being a good husband, or whether it's sitting down and writing. I most certainly do not have to force myself not to squat on the sidewalk, but even if I did, forcing yourself not to do something has nothing at all to do with forcing yourself to do something you love.

I fill my life with things I love to do so much that I can't wait to get to them. I'd have to force myself not to do them. I'm a good husband because I love my wife, and love being what it is that makes her happy. No forcing myself about it. I go to the shooting range every week because I love shooting, not because I make myself go do it. I spend most Saturdays with family and friends because doing so makes me extremely happy, and it would take six very good men and two very strong mules to stop me.

And I sit down to write because doing so gives me more pleasure than almost anything else I could do with those writing hours. Why would I have to force myself to sit down and write when doing so makes me so happy?

Darned near the only thing I have to force myself to do is pay taxes. Being a citizen must mean something very different to you. To me, it means being able to live a life where I almost never have to force myself to do anything.

I darned sure would not be a writer if I have to force myself to sit down and write. Life is filled with wonderful things that are so much fun that force is not a requirement. If writing didn't do it for me, I'd spend every spare moment doing something else that did. I like being happy, I like being free, and I like spending whatever amount of time is left in my mortality banking account doing things I love, not forcing myself to do this or that.

The only thing I really 'force myself' to do is editing. I hate it. (I don't write everyday, but when I do it..it's because I'm happy to do it. It's not force.) I can self-edit, but it bores me. It doesn't really fire my imagination.

Jamesaritchie said:

I force myself to do a lot of things, as well, but they're always things I don't really want toi do, but must do. If I had to force myself to be a good husband, I would never have married. That's something I do because it makes me happy, and there is no force myself to it.

How many have to force themselves to play their favorite video games, or watch their favorite movies, or to go out on the town with friends? We all have to force ourselves to do things we'd rather not do, but if you have to force yourself to do things that should be done because you love them, you'll get nowhere.

Maybe it's no more than a mindset, but I can't think of anything worse than a life where I had to force myself to do everything. I couldn't and wouldn't live that way. When love is involved, you shouldn't have to force yourself to do whatever it is, whether it's being a good husband, or whether it's sitting down and writing. I most certainly do not have to force myself not to squat on the sidewalk, but even if I did, forcing yourself not to do something has nothing at all to do with forcing yourself to do something you love.

I fill my life with things I love to do so much that I can't wait to get to them. I'd have to force myself not to do them. I'm a good husband because I love my wife, and love being what it is that makes her happy. No forcing myself about it. I go to the shooting range every week because I love shooting, not because I make myself go do it. I spend most Saturdays with family and friends because doing so makes me extremely happy, and it would take six very good men and two very strong mules to stop me.

And I sit down to write because doing so gives me more pleasure than almost anything else I could do with those writing hours. Why would I have to force myself to sit down and write when doing so makes me so happy?

Darned near the only thing I have to force myself to do is pay taxes. Being a citizen must mean something very different to you. To me, it means being able to live a life where I almost never have to force myself to do anything.

I darned sure would not be a writer if I have to force myself to sit down and write. Life is filled with wonderful things that are so much fun that force is not a requirement. If writing didn't do it for me, I'd spend every spare moment doing something else that did. I like being happy, I like being free, and I like spending whatever amount of time is left in my mortality banking account doing things I love, not forcing myself to do this or that.

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I agree with this. I write because it's fun for me, and when the fun stops and I'm out of ideas on where to take my story, I take a break and get back to it later. Sometimes I'll be sitting in a car day dreaming, thinking about my story and I'm like "there's my idea, that's where I'm going to go next."

If you're not having fun writing to the point where you have to force yourself to do it by turning off your internet, maybe writing just isn't for you.

Hublocker said:

OP . Month later report.

So after I wrote that first message May 11, I kept writing 500 words a day for the rest of the week. After that I bumped it up to 1000 words so since May 11 I have written 34,000 words into my WIP.

It's my reward to myself. Write 1000 words before doing anything else, then I can go to work on my journalism or visit my favourite web sites. Until then I keep the 'net off.

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Congratulations Hublocker! You're the best! Keep at it!

Jamesaritchie said:

....
I fill my life with things I love to do so much that I can't wait to get to them. I'd have to force myself not to do them. I'm a good husband because I love my wife, and love being what it is that makes her happy. No forcing myself about it. I go to the shooting range every week because I love shooting, not because I make myself go do it. I spend most Saturdays with family and friends because doing so makes me extremely happy, and it would take six very good men and two very strong mules to stop me.

And I sit down to write because doing so gives me more pleasure than almost anything else I could do with those writing hours. Why would I have to force myself to sit down and write when doing so makes me so happy?

Darned near the only thing I have to force myself to do is pay taxes. Being a citizen must mean something very different to you. To me, it means being able to live a life where I almost never have to force myself to do anything.

I darned sure would not be a writer if I have to force myself to sit down and write. Life is filled with wonderful things that are so much fun that force is not a requirement. If writing didn't do it for me, I'd spend every spare moment doing something else that did. I like being happy, I like being free, and I like spending whatever amount of time is left in my mortality banking account doing things I love, not forcing myself to do this or that.

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And may you enjoy this life for many years and decades more, Jamesaritchie; and may as many of us as possible sooner or later arrive to a similar place!

One thing I have found that helps me is doing things that will increase my odds of wanting to write that next scene / conversation / whatever.

1. Know where you are going and what's up next. I am an outliner. For years I didn't think I would be, but then I took a class about oral storytelling in university and I began planning my novels as told stories first. When I go to write I know the big, key things going on. It's the fine details, and allowing a character to take a sharp right when I told them left now and then, that keeps the actual writing process exciting for me.

2. Know what you want to get done when you sit down at your keyboard. What do you want to write Today? I know that when my bf goes home from his visit here at the end of the week, the First thing I'll be doing is getting back to my current novella. Why? Because I left my hero chasing a crazy lady who turned into an giant owl and deflated the hot air balloon the hero and heroine were flying in. He definitely wants "a word" and then some with her. I could have wrapped the scene up before bf got here or even now instead of chatting here. But my mind isn't on the story right now and that's okay. When it's time to get back into that mindset, I know my story is ready.

3. Know that sometimes you won't or can't write, and that's okay. I am not talking about being snubbed by The Muse here. I totally agree with those who say waiting for inspiration is a waste of time. However, sometimes life can be busy (my bf's visit / I believe the OP mentioned a trip at one point) and a writer shouldn't be frustrated by this.

4. The power of reward. I think this is moreso what the OP may have been talking about. It's not that I don't want to write. It's the lack of that pesky Muse I mentioned earlier and figuring out how to get words on the page. I'm one of those people who don't like wrong turns or dead ends, so if I don't fully "see" where a scene is going (short term; I tend to know long term) that can be frustrating. Rewards also help me if I get too wrapped up in looking at the Big Picture of a project. My mind does strange things when I consider "Write 90,000 words", vs. "Complete Chapter Fifteen", vs. "Write the scene where Kyden and Sarenna go for a hot air balloon ride".

Turning off my internet would not make me write. It would make me angry I was disconnected. This may likely be because I do research as I write (in addition to pre-research). I also agree with the person who was talking about "Write 500 words, go on fb. Write another 500 words, check x, y, and z threads on a forum. (Or whaever works for the person in question.)" It's not that fb or the forum are more important; it's that they take less effort, so the brain wants to gravitate toward them. Writing is rewarding and joyous, but there is a certain level of effort involved. (The whole consuming vs. creating thing.)

Anyway, these are just my thoughts. Good luck!

You have an internet habit. Habits can be changed. Get through a couple of days with no internet at all, or writing for an hour (more would be perfectly all right) before you start site hopping. At the end of a week (for some people) or a month (for others) your old habit will be fading and your new habit will be digging in.

Good luck.

I think it's definitely a good start. Maybe try to add more words for each day. 500 words does seem kind of minute.

Hublocker said:

Thank you very much dondomat. I gratefully appreciate your encouraging and positive response.

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Hey, it's no joke; you've managed to show that you have the discipline and focus on a sustained basis needed to actually become a writer. Good or bad or so-so--no idea--but you have the basis--you carved it out yourself. Good for you!

Loverofwords said:

I think it's definitely a good start. Maybe try to add more words for each day. 500 words does seem kind of minute.

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First, Hublocker already said he upped to 1000--good opportunity to remind everyone we must all develop and maintain post-reading skills in order to contribute better Second--this is not a competition of who writes the most words in the least time. Otherwise any fast typist would qualify as 'better' than Tom Wolfe. This is a competition of who tells the least crap story with the least crap word-choices, sentences, paragraphs, scenes, and story arcs.

An 80 000 word book can be written in 80 days if it's 1000 words a day, 160 days if it's 500 words a day, and it's all great. Of course, after that comes the editing and crap, unless it all happens on the spot, but that's a completely different thing.

I may need to do something similar that the OP did.

I work full time and have 2 kids. I have very little free time. When I sit down for my writing time, I tell myself I need to "unwind " first, and I go on the internet... it definitely eats into my writing time. And I LOVE to write, no forcing needed, I just run out of time. Maybe I need to switch it all up, write first, then internet!

I grew up on a farm and was lucky enough to milk the cows 'cause it needed done and to make hay while the sun shined.

The next ten years in the army was pretty much the same. The sooner you started the job, the sooner it was done. So it went with college, teaching, more college, and more teaching. Essays didn't grade themselves.

Now, rising, shining, and placing butt-in-chair in front of the laptop is a pleasant habit.

Edit: Probably sounds a bit smug, but what I mean is I'm glad an inherited and instilled ethic has allowed me to work and play hard for 74 years.

Chase said:

I grew up on a farm and was lucky enough to milk the cows 'cause it needed done and to make hay while the sun shined.

The next ten years in the army was pretty much the same. The sooner you started the job, the sooner it was done. So it went with college, teaching, more college, and more teaching. Essays didn't grade themselves.

Now, rising, shining, and placing butt-in-chair in front of the laptop is a pleasant habit.

Edit: Probably sounds a bit smug, but what I mean is I'm glad an inherited and instilled ethic has allowed me to work and play hard for 74 years.

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Great Scott, I stopped playing hard after 30. Then again, I'm a sickly city slicker

Congrats to all who are accomplishing their goals!

As I read these, I notice that while much of the advice is different, it all includes two very specific things: a goal, and a motivator/incentive.

Some of us need it spelled out clearly in small steps to keep ourselves focused, while others have more general feelings of success as enough motivation.

I often can go with general knowledge I succeed, but lately with health issues, even small things that may be so much fun I still sometimes have to "force" myself to do. I am always glad I did them, but I did have to push myself. Sometimes I am hurting and it is just my little girl wanting to play a game. I sit up and do it anyway, and I am always glad I did- but there is a moment where it is so hard, and would be easier to say not now, later (but there are times I have to do that, so I try not to if I don't have to). I struggle with this some in writing as well.

I think this not only applies to life but also to any goal in life, including writing. You have the goal, the internal (or external deadline) "request", and you must grapple with navigating the yes or no and the details on if yes, then how.

So congrats to everyone who accomplishes any writing counts you set out to do (and to those who maybe need to congratulate yourselves on increments of smaller word counts too).

Good luck, Hublocker!

I've heard someone describe trying to write on a computer with Internet access as being like asking a kid to do his homework in a toy store. My day so far is a demonstration of this problem.