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Give yourself permission to write badly

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SamanthaDrake

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I recently recovered from a twenty-year writers' block where I had completely given up on writing, and now I am almost finished with my first draft of my very first novel. Permitting myself to write badly was the key to overcoming my anxiety about it. It's all about dumping as much information and detail as you can onto a page and then walking away from it for a few days then go back and organize it. Another trick I have found that works is to write a scene in three different ways. I call it the trifecta. I'm not saying it's the fix-all for everyone, but it works for me. Also, if I write something but I can't figure out what is wrong with it, walking away from it a couple of days usually gives me perspective. When I say walk away, I mean give yourself permission to abandon something and move on to the next idea. There is a good chance what you wrote before will end up in the scrap pile anyway. Another thing, don't stop writing. When you are dealing with writers' block, sometimes quantity over quality will lead to an idea. Or take a walk and get some air and perspective but come back to it. I hope this helps someone!
 

Enlightened

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Quantity vs. Quality, the age old discussion. Nice info.

I think when one deals with deadlines, it changes a bit. When writing a sequel with an assigned due date, for example. Without deadlines, do what works for you best (pantsing vs. plotting).
 

SamanthaDrake

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I think sometimes the anxiety over the deadline is the problem. If i can get the pen to the paper sometimes it helps but the best cure for meeting deadlines is to make a schedule and stick to it... if you get stuck..skip it... it may not help everyone but for me it works...
 

Klope3

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How do you feel about the ideas you're writing about? I usually find that if I come up with an idea I really like, it's much easier to write than when I don't have ideas. And if you somehow don't have any ideas right now (as you gain more experience, they'll come to you unbidden, trust me), try stealing other people's ideas. Don't try to publish it if you're blatantly plagiarizing, but if it's just for your own private purposes, anything's fair game.
 

SamanthaDrake

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I've started taking songs and writing stories about them. Is that plagiarism? Not word for word but basing a situation on something I hear. I think you have to like what your writing about to write well. I literally feel like I'm having a love affair with the leading man in my story. That is why he is even more interesting than the heroine.
 

Enlightened

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I've started taking songs and writing stories about them. Is that plagiarism? Not word for word but basing a situation on something I hear. I think you have to like what your writing about to write well. I literally feel like I'm having a love affair with the leading man in my story. That is why he is even more interesting than the heroine.

Great idea for a writing exercise.
 
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