I used to wear my love-hate relationship with writing like a badge. Usually when I was sitting around not writing.
I’ve overcome some of that with the help of avid, healthy reading and being more conscious about my goals as a writer. No more lofty notions of the great american novel and no more insurmountable goals that end up sending me far away from the keyboard and straight to a bottle of Jameson’s. Save the dreams of world domination for later.
One of the keys to enjoying writing and keeping it up consistently is setting small, achievable goals for yourself. May not be a new idea, but I don’t see it talked about in regards to writing as often as I’d think I would.Some examples of things to try in order to bring back the love:
- Improve the dialogue in one scene. Cut out the fat and make it flow.
- Search your story for lame words like “somehow” and “suddenly.” Replace them with better specific words.
- I once pared a story down from 2500 words to 1600. Talk about trying to find the perfect word… Do this to a story you really like for even greater effect.
- If you’re stuck on a story or a piece of writing, read a favorite story and find one thing to steal. Watch the plagiarism — but freely borrow a technique and apply it to solve your problem.
The idea of attainable goals is part of writing exercises and prompts. But for me, I’ve never really been able to get much out of exercises. I need to feel like what I’m writing is the real thing — even if I throw it out eventually. And, a small goal achieved is a happy writer, even if only for a few minutes…
Comments 12
Good call, Gordon. I’ve started my great American novel so many times only to find myself totally scared by the gargantuan task. Now I work on a scene at a time and pray that someday they’ll all link together.
Posted 03 Oct 2006 at 12:38 pm ¶I agree with Heather. I especially like the idea of going after small goals one at a time as they lead you to bigger goals.
regards-
Armand
Posted 03 Oct 2006 at 5:21 pm ¶Starting small is really how writing works, I think. Sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph.
My trouble isn’t so much not wanting to write but making the time for it.
Posted 03 Oct 2006 at 6:57 pm ¶“I’ve never really been able to get much out of exercises. I need to feel like what I’m writing is the real thing…”
Ah, that’s exactly how I feel! Thanks for pointing out some other great ways (besides the prompts/exercises) to do it little by little.
Posted 04 Oct 2006 at 9:47 pm ¶I feel the same about exercises–I’m either writing or I’m not. I didn’t like them as a student either. However, my students seem to want them … mainly, perhaps, because otherwise they have to wait too long to get workshopped and get their work seen. Maybe I need to stress that they need to write all the time but not necessarily show *everthing* to someone! But generally I go with the exercises thing, realizing we’re all different as writers.
Posted 05 Oct 2006 at 9:48 am ¶I can see how students might feel cheated without being given some choices about exercises and prompts — particularly when the class is tackling some new techniques or craft elements. It’s good to have them in a pinch.
I should remind myself of that when/if I get into doing some teaching.
Thanks for all the comments.
-g
Posted 05 Oct 2006 at 10:18 am ¶These are fantastic, simple tips. I used them to help me focus this past weekend, during which I was mostly feeling like I “hate to write.”
Posted 22 Oct 2006 at 3:36 pm ¶Great bit of advice! Thank you for taking the time to post it!
I’ve been sputtering (mostly) on my novel for the past four years.
I’ll try your approach and will let you know about my results.
Cheers!
Jess
Posted 24 Oct 2006 at 11:58 pm ¶Jess — please do post back. I would love to hear how people are using some of the stuff we talk about here…
Posted 25 Oct 2006 at 8:28 am ¶Shame I was looking for a place that could sell me chains, so I could chain myself to the desk and finish what I start.
I’ve heard that Absinthe can have the same effect.
Posted 08 Nov 2006 at 5:20 am ¶I find the fastest way of writing is doing it on computer. Screw rough copy because when I do a rough, I always rush and forget stuff. On papper, there’s no spacebar to start in the middle. If your a writer and don’t know how to type. You better learn how if you want to have time to fly a kite.
Posted 28 Sep 2007 at 6:04 pm ¶Hi.
Posted 28 Nov 2007 at 11:12 pm ¶Good design, who make it?
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