I've been trying to decide how to start the journey back to writing. One thought I had was to just grab my notebook and red pen*, and free write. Let the ideas flow out of my fingers and onto the page where only I can see them and they can just BE. In the past, I've done this whenever I'm stuck. I write until I find a way through the mess in my head. Basically transferring the mess from my head onto a page. It works for me. And if not writing for two years isn't stuck, I don't know what is.
The other thought I had was to pick an unfinished story and just start writing on it again. But without getting down on myself for mistakes. This would be a full-on 'give yourself permission to suck' - which is another way I've gotten myself out of an inability to write. There have been numerous times in the past where I've been so focused on writing a story that would SELL that I couldn't write anything. Time to suck with wild abandon and not care who knows it. Suck away, my friend.
I may do a combination of both. We'll see how it goes. Either way may break something free. Fingers crossed. I will write again. First, though, I should probably see if any of my red pens still have ink in them. ;o)
What do you do when you're stuck?
* I always write in my notebooks with red ink. I started doing it years ago to get rid of the fear of someone marking my writing up, pointing out all the mistakes, in red. And I got to where I just like it.
You know my philosophy--whatever works. Writing prompts work for me when it comes to being stuck in a scene. For new ideas, song titles, music videos, walking into the next room... LOL I actually have more ideas than I'll ever write. It's not the inspiration I'm lacking but the...push? Energy? Motivation? So yeah. Whatever works.
ReplyDeleteTrue story: Have you heard about the internet debate going around? "Would you rather be alone in the forest with a man or a bear?" since I occasionally toy around with the idea of writing a bear shifter because...bears!...I thought about writing at least a novella on the topic. Got a newsletter today and another writer beat me to it. Her premise: Bear shifter stumbles upon the book’s female main character having an altercation with the guy she’s dating—an unpleasant one—and she shouts at her soon-to-be ex that he is the reason why women choose the bear. This greatly amuses the bear, as it would. He’s already not liking the guy because he’s a creeper. I have no idea where the book is going from there because it is still a WIP but I wish I'd gotten off my arse a few weeks ago and worked on my idea because my thoughts were similar to this author's. Ah well. Shoulda, coulda, woulda... Anyway, are we doing a Ju-lo-wri-mo?
Sounds like a plan, Silver. I say we just set a goal like 'write every day' instead of a word count and see how much we can accomplish. Let me know what you think.
ReplyDeleteThat totally works for me and we check in next day to confirm word count whether it's 250 or 2500 or whatever. 🤤 That work for you?
ReplyDeleteWorks for me. Let's do this. Well, in a few weeks. LOL
Delete👍🏼
ReplyDeleteI like to try to minimize the task by setting timers, usually just 5 minutes if I feel resistant. You're right, it's better to focus on the words instead of how the book will be received. You've got this. :)
ReplyDeleteWhatever works is good to me!
ReplyDeleteNotebooks are wonderful, especially for ideas. I think my writing slowed to a crawl when I started insisting on typing into a idea file.
Back when I was writing, I just opened the current chapter and wrote. Oddly enough, it was never as bad as I expected it to be.