Writing/Drawing Is My Happy Place!

Writers’ Chat: Status Update

Share a picture or image that reflects your current writing status right now.

Writers chat prompts

Share an excerpt prompts

Hype people up for your original writing project (no fanfiction please- it's a wonderful medium but not the focus of this blog post) or work in progress by giving us some juicy details!

WELCOME TO MARKETING MONTH

Hi everyone, it's time to crack this case.... together. Please feel free to do submissions of questions for this event! Seriously! It's gonna be an entire month of us answering marketing questions and trying to figure out what to do about this conundrum.

TODAY'S QUESTION:

It usually feels really bad. Because this is the point it becomes real craft. It's so, so difficult to really be able to identify if it's truly not going to be anything or you're just in the hardest part of the process, and really the only way to know is to... write through it. Write it badly. Or, if you really can't, put it in a drawer and come back to it after a few months of breathing space. Remember, you can fix so much in the edit, but you can't fix nothing!

https://www.patreon.com/posts/writing-advice-1-82451675

Because without inspiration to continue writing at that point is not just hard, it's like hitting your head against a brick wall and expecting it to budge. It won't. So rather than forcing yourself to limp on what is the literary equivalent of a sprained ankle, try instead to take things from a different angle.

Let it breathe, yes, but not in the drop it completely and leave it alone way. Gather inspiration. It doesn't matter if it's rereading what you've written (NOT editing!!!!) to find things to use in later parts of the story (kind of a Chekov's gun kind of deal you weren't intending to use something but can now, or hell, one you mentioned expecting to use later and completely forgot about - been there!!!) or even taking in media that inspired your project or writing in general.

Give your brain a reset. Remind yourself what made you excited about this project in the first place. Sometimes a fire can burn down to embers, but it can be restoked into a flame again with precision and care. You just have to find what works for you. Go over old notes. Plot what you want to do in a future section and consider what you need to do to get there. I'm a pantser meets plantser kind of writer. I don't outline, I plant ideas and sometimes they grow into more stuff later, or I learn about the story and the characters as I'm writing them. But! I still get ideas for later scenes even if they are just a general vibe rather than anything detailed. So I consider what would have to happen to get to that point or make the vibe happen and sometimes that's enough to get me through the slough. Sometimes it's not.

Sometimes I get writer's block for 3 months because I write myself into a horrible corner and can't figure out how to make it better. Then one day, my brain goes "Why are we trying to make it better? What if we made it even worse instead?" BAM 40K more words vomited onto the page outta fuckin nowhere.

It's different for everyone, but sometimes asking yourself the question "Why is my focus slipping here?" and picking apart why the fire is dying down will get you more information on how to spark it into a roaring flame again. Pester your muse!!!! Think of it like the rubber duck of writing. Talk out loud to it if you must. Pretend you are in an interview about your story and you don't have social anxiety and regale your tale with the excitement of someone uncovering pirate treasure for the first time.