Queen of Procrastination...

Status
Not open for further replies.

Branwyn

Print release:Sept.1,'09
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
Messages
1,770
Reaction score
548
Location
Purgatory's Pit of Doom
I need a swift kick in the rear. I cannot get motivated to write, I feel as if a cloud has engulfed me and won't let me out!

My style has to conform to what is 'acceptable', I am not happy with that, I like to be desciptive. I enjoy painting a picture in the reader's mind.
Perhaps, I should try watercolors.
 

aadams73

A Work in Progress
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
9,901
Reaction score
6,428
Location
Oregon
What's stopping you from writing that way? Why does it have to conform?
 

Arisa81

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
4,363
Reaction score
532
Location
Canada
Website
pacificpurple.blogspot.com
If you feel that you can't write the way you want to write, you won't be motivated to do it.
With all of the markets out there these days, I am quite sure that someone will like your style.
 

greatfish

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 9, 2006
Messages
130
Reaction score
2
Branwyn said:
I need a swift kick in the rear. I cannot get motivated to write, I feel as if a cloud has engulfed me and won't let me out!

My style has to conform to what is 'acceptable', I am not happy with that, I like to be desciptive. I enjoy painting a picture in the reader's mind.
Perhaps, I should try watercolors.

Ezra Pound said an artist will always be able to paint a clearer picture than a writer, so a writer needs to focus on things that a painter can't do. I believe he was talking about putting some kind of meaning or theme behind the image, so the image is more than just an image. Maybe you could try mystery fiction, where a well described scene could be essential for clues and what-not.
 

Shades of Humanity

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 29, 2006
Messages
104
Reaction score
22
aadams73 said:
What's stopping you from writing that way? Why does it have to conform?

I'm curious as well. Conforming and writing sound oxymoronic in my mind.
 

Branwyn

Print release:Sept.1,'09
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
Messages
1,770
Reaction score
548
Location
Purgatory's Pit of Doom
Thanks~~ I do write mystery. I am also an artist.
It is true that if I must conform, I won't be motivated. I think part of it is the holidays are too hectic. Especially this year. I need to crawl into my cave and get to work. Party time is over.

I also know all (most) the agents are out of their offices until after the New Year. I've got to get to work on my query for book number two, not to mention rewrites for number two. I don't especially like writing queries.:e2writer:
 

Toothpaste

THE RECKLESS RESCUE is out now!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 18, 2006
Messages
8,745
Reaction score
3,096
Location
Toronto, Canada
Website
www.adriennekress.com
You don't need to conform. And it worries me that you write that. There are many published exceptions to the rule out there, you just need to find the one person who supports your work. And now here I go using me as an example again, sorry: My book was too long, too old fashioned, written as if I am british (but I'm not). I was rejected across the board by agents by all but one. And that one sent my book out to publishers who all rejected my book, all except for one. It only takes one.

However I really hope you don't think that taking constructive critism seriously, and revisiting your work critically, is conforming. Sometimes we as authors just have to admit we are being slightly precious with our work.

Queries suck. They suck big time. I totally agree with you on that one!
 
Last edited:
Joined
Aug 7, 2005
Messages
47,985
Reaction score
13,245
You say you like to be descriptive. Perhaps you're describing things that aren't essential to the story?

I can think of one author who describes furnishings, decor and fashion rather than telling the damn story, to the point that it looks like padding!

Maybe the agent/publisher thought your descriptions were redundant?
 

PeeDee

Where's my tea, please...?
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 16, 2005
Messages
11,724
Reaction score
2,085
Website
peterdamien.com
Conforming, especially in my writing, tends to make me kick out and do something in the opposite direction. Why conform? Do something really wild and out of the blue.
 

Branwyn

Print release:Sept.1,'09
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
Messages
1,770
Reaction score
548
Location
Purgatory's Pit of Doom
We must be thinking of the same author. Does it really make a difference if the bougainvillea is a velvety pink and not satiny purple?

Actually, I was told I should be careful with my adjectives by a writer of non-fiction.:Lecture:

I know it only takes one---but that can be the needle in the haystack.
 

Jenan Mac

The Deadliest Bunny
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 26, 2006
Messages
1,665
Reaction score
362
Location
under the radar
In the words of my therapist from ten years ago: "you don't have to be motivated. You have to do it."

I think he watched a lot of Nike commercials.
 

johnzakour

Dangerous with a Keyboard
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 24, 2006
Messages
1,939
Reaction score
263
Website
www.johnzakour.com
We all run into those clouds that slow us down now and then. (The holidays have really slowed me down...)

The key is to take a deep breath, sit at the computer and type. You'll be suprised at what comes out.

My motivation is, I like reading what I write. I figure if I like reading it then somebody else will like reading it also.
 

von62653

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 22, 2006
Messages
135
Reaction score
3
Location
South Florida
Hi Branwyn,

I know what you mean about the procrastination bug. My romance writer's chapter is having their conference in February. This will be a first for me so I'm thinking I should write, write, write, so I can have something to pitch to an editor. But, when I pull up my WIP, my mind starts reeling about what's in right now, what's out, etc. These are topics that come up at my writer's meetings, so when I finally have time to write I can't focus on my own story.:cry:

Somebody told me to just write the way I want because by the time the book is finished and may or may not become published - the market I was focusing on is "saturated" anyway. (I doubt if best selling authors like Stephen King or John Grisham worried about "what's in" when they first started writing.)

So I'm finally accepting the really outrageous thoughts in my head and I can't wait to get to the computer to write it all down. I may have to use a pen name when I'm done but what the hey....:D
 

johnzakour

Dangerous with a Keyboard
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 24, 2006
Messages
1,939
Reaction score
263
Website
www.johnzakour.com
Branwyn said:
My style has to conform to what is 'acceptable', I am not happy with that, I like to be desciptive. I enjoy painting a picture in the reader's mind.
Perhaps, I should try watercolors.

I don't think you need to conform to what is 'acceptable' as 'acceptable' changes all the time. Write what you like and see what happens.

(Said, the guy who writes pulp sf...)
 

MyFirstMystery

Having Fun with Words
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 2, 2006
Messages
159
Reaction score
18
Location
Seattle, WA
Whenever I feel like procrastinating I just remember that no one but me (at this point at least) gives a rat's behind about my writing, that it would be the easiest thing in the world to quit and no one would fault me.

Then I get pissed off at my own whining and pick up the writing again. Who are you writing for? I do it for myself. When I remember that, I find my motivation.

Who was it who said in an article on writing advice that said "If you want to be a writer first try to be something else, anything else!"

MFM
 

verbie

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 9, 2006
Messages
58
Reaction score
10
Location
Where the rubber meets the road
No wonder you're blah if you're working on a d*$n query letter. They're ten times harder to write than the book. :) You're probably just in the post holiday funk. Life will look better tomorrow, I betcha!
 

Branwyn

Print release:Sept.1,'09
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
Messages
1,770
Reaction score
548
Location
Purgatory's Pit of Doom
Thanks, you're all right---I gotta be me!

This week, this year, I resolve to write more and better.

Happy New Year!:partyguy:
 

von62653

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 22, 2006
Messages
135
Reaction score
3
Location
South Florida
Hi Branwyn,
I notice when I check in with this forum more often I get out of my funk and start writing. Procrastination can be a real killer for a writer. Don't let it pull us under!
:box:
 

Chasing the Horizon

Blowing in the Wind
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 8, 2006
Messages
4,288
Reaction score
561
Location
Pennsylvania
MyFirstMystery said:
Who are you writing for? I do it for myself. When I remember that, I find my motivation.
MFM
I totally agree. A while back I spent an entire week worrying about whether my books would ever be publishable. I wrote absolutely nothing that week. A book that doesn't exist is most certainly no use to anyone.

Then I remembered why I started writing in the first place. It wasn't because I wanted to get published. It was because I want to read the story. Now I couldn't care less about what other people want or what might happen to be popular or easy to publish. I'm going to write the story I want to read in the style I like with the characters I love. I'm going to polish and edit it until it's the best it can be. Then I'm going to submit it to every good agent that takes my type of writing until one of them accepts it. If none of them accept it, then I'll publish it myself and use the experience I have in business to market it (yes, I actually use to work in sales.)

I don't write for agents or publishers or market trends. I write for myself. The only reason I even care about publishing is because I want to give others the opportunity to read what I've written.

Since I remembered why I started, I've written 90,000 words in less than two months. Less worrying = more writing (and less headaches).

Oh, I just wanted to add that I personally love vivid description both in my own writing and in the books I read. That's why Stephen King is one of my favorite authors. I doubt you're more detailed than him in your description and he doesn't seem to have any trouble selling books. (Though he did have trouble getting published. Shows you how much agents and publishers know about what will end up selling)
 

Branwyn

Print release:Sept.1,'09
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
Messages
1,770
Reaction score
548
Location
Purgatory's Pit of Doom
I write for me, too. Ultimately though, I write to be read--to teach(hopefully), and to open the reader's mind to ideas that she/he might not otherwise entertain.

That's the main reason I write.:e2BIC:
 

Dawn R

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 31, 2006
Messages
259
Reaction score
10
Location
North Island, New Zealand
Website
www.dawnrotarangi.blogspot.com
I've got a case of the second book blues myself, Branwyn. It isn't saying what I want it to say, I've pruned so many words, I'm almost down to a short story, and the whole idea behinds it now sounds like garbage. But - it excited me once. I can do it again. And so can you. Now come here. :Hug2: (That's a comforting moment with another writer.) Listen to all these good people's advice, take your morning pep-up of Water Cooler, and get back out there and write your story.
 

Branwyn

Print release:Sept.1,'09
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
Messages
1,770
Reaction score
548
Location
Purgatory's Pit of Doom
Thanks Dawn :Hug2: , and Shadow_Ferret. After I thought about it--although she is a well-known author of non-fiction--I kinda felt the same, it is a different writing style.

I should focus on the fiction author that asked to see more after reading the first chapter.:snoopy:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.