Going crazy - need encouragement

M.C.Statz · Aug 17, 2017

About 61K words into my first draft. Mostly 61K words of shit, but that doesn't bother me so much. I feel there's enough under the shit I can craft once I get to the revision process. I know I'm going to throw away many of the scenes and maybe even major characters and make very substantial changes, but I'm very pig-headed right now about just getting the damn draft done!

Not a good writing output for me this week so far. Probably only 2,500 words in 4 days (I reset the word count tracker every morning so I don't know exactly). My goal is 1,000 a day. I'd be happy with 2,500 words if they were good. I'd be happy with 4,000 words period. But missing the goal and not producing anything good is bumming me out.

I'm working on one of the major character's storyline. Thematically this character is important, at least for the draft (All bets are off for the revision stage, she's going to have to earn her keep). But I have no direction for her. She's got goals and motivations, but I'm having trouble giving her a problem. So she's bounced her doing something interesting, and bounced there, and there were raiders, and there's this asshole who wants to destroy her if she doesn't join his cult. Okay, maybe she does have problems, but it's not fitting really well, and there's no clear progression down the plot. I'm just saying, okay Miss, what are you going to do next? She does something interesting. No clear progression for resolution. Okay, what next? Insert an event to get it kickstarted. Nothing.

Frustrating. I need more sleep. Between work, caring for the dogs, spending quality time with the girlfriend, writing, and the new gym opening tomorrow (I need a good workout so bad!) sleep is hard to come by.

I'll keep chipping away. Maybe take a day off and then come back with a vengeance. I may be a shitty writer, but I'm persistent as hell!

mccardey · Aug 17, 2017

M.C.Statz said:
(I need a good workout so bad!)

Me, too. Workout first - all else will follow

JCornelius · Aug 17, 2017

Don't screw with sleep. Once a sleeping deficit sets in, all other parts of life will start sucking. Whatever you do--sleep as much as the body needs for the tiny bio nano-bots to undo the damage of the day.

Being realistic about writing conditions and possibilities is very important. Not "how fast and how well I can write if only I had time A", but "how fast and how well I can write in this real, actual, time B that I have." Sometimes having only one or two guaranteed times a week to write is the only realistic situation. And instead of being a tragedy, maybe it will allow the ole brain to quietly peculate on the book and produce better ideas than if there was a forced rush.

Other folks may point out that they became writers by waking up at 4 in the morning and writing before work, but you ask yourself do you have the health and stamina to pull this off. If yes--go for it. If no--better get that sleep instead. Prolonged sleep deficit makes gums bleed and heads ache and brains get foggy and bodies get achey and nerves get hysterey and immune systems dysfunctioney.

indianroads · Aug 17, 2017

Setting goals is good - but rather than set a WC objective, why not write for X hours a day? Sometimes you'll write a lot, sometimes not, but either way it's productive. Often just going over the plot and scribbling in a notebook can be pretty darned productive.

Carrie in PA · Aug 17, 2017

Ditto above - relax a bit on your word count goal. It's good, but it's important not to discount all the mental behind-the-words stuff that needs to happen, which it sounds like you're wrestling with for your major character. Maybe try some free-writing ideas for the plot, and don't worry about hitting the word count target until you get some clearer direction.

Also, get some sleep. Being tired makes everything shittier.

Work on your story issues during your workout. Many times the physical exertion helps work out the mental kinks.

BethS · Aug 17, 2017

JCornelius said:
Don't screw with sleep. Once a sleeping deficit sets in, all other parts of life will start sucking. Whatever you do--sleep as much as the body needs for the tiny bio nano-bots to undo the damage of the day.

This, this, this.

And fwiw, M.C.Statz, it sound to me like your character needs a long-term goal, something she wants badly enough that it will carry her through the whole story. All those obstacles and conflicts along the way should be in service to that--thwarting her or helping her.

Harlequin · Aug 17, 2017

I have no advice re sleep and schedules (except, perhaps--don't have kids? lol) My eldest woke every hour for her first three years. Youngest isnt much better sleepwise, plus nonverbal and under assessment for ASD. Generally I can only write between 11pm and 2 am. I also work from home.

Sleep does suffer and therefore yes, so does everything else, but it's either go without sleep or go without writing.

Harlequin · Aug 17, 2017

Also, write a detailed synopsis, including what you have so far an where you project the story going. Synopses are hugely useful.

If still stuck, stop and read. The answer is always in books. Time spent reading IS writing.

M.C.Statz · Aug 18, 2017

Thanks everyone.

Been doing a few hours of reading every week, but read a lot last night. Went to bed early, got a full 8 hours. Up at five thirty, got my workout in, got dogs taken care of, even squeezed in a 500 word writing session. I feel better.

I realized the problem with the major character. She's a chief in a chief role. Most of my major characters, other than the main character, are indians. Not saying they aren't self starters, or lack motivation, but they are fundamentally indians. One is an indian in a chief role, which I didn't realize until this morning in the shower. A chief in a chief role causes problems, and not the interesting-conflict-to-resolve type problems. It causes the how-do-these-two-storylines-ever-intersect type problems.

Solution seemed pretty simple once I realized the problem. Make her a chief in an indian role. Her backstory can be her fall from chiefhood, and her storyline can be her return.

J.D. Robinson · Aug 26, 2017

I'm new here, so I hope I don’t commit a newbie mistake when I suggest plotting to a pantser. At least it sounds like you're an exploration writer, and I do understand that's pretty hardwired in some. (And I'm a hardwired plotter, so.) So I'd say keep pantsing, but to shift into plot mode for these rough patches. If you can work out a snag in bullet points rather than paragraphs, it may be easier going, at least until you've bridged the gap. Or maybe you're already sorted. But I do think shifting into outline mode can be a useful tool. For me, I hit those frustrating walls in the plotting phase, so by the time I'm writing actual prose it's pretty smooth-sailing (to the extent that writing is ever smooth-sailing).

Going crazy - need encouragement

M.C.Statz

Little fish in a big pond

mccardey

JCornelius

indianroads

Wherever I go, there I am.

Carrie in PA

Write All The Words!

BethS

Harlequin

Eat books, not brains!

Harlequin

Eat books, not brains!

M.C.Statz

Little fish in a big pond

J.D. Robinson