Craft Corner: Pushing Through Resistance to Writing
If you've been following my weekly updates, you'll know that drafting GHOSTLINE has been amazingly smooth. Well, last week I hit my first real wall of resistance.
Luckily, I have a system for dealing with resistance that I want to share in case it's helpful!
First, recognize what resistance feels like in your body and mind.
My physical tells:
Constantly refreshing Reddit and YouTube when I'm supposed to be writing
Poor posture. Literally slumping almost horizontal in my chair
Typing one-handed for some reason
My mental tells:
Basically boredom. I just don't care about what I'm writing. I'm a plotter, so I work from a detailed outline. There's an entire step in my process where I go through scene-by-scene and ask myself if I'm excited to write each one. If no, I revise. The scene I was working on passed that check, and it's actually a pretty major scene in the book, but I was still bored by it.
Next, my process:
Step One: Recognize that resistance isn't you being lazy. It's your brain trying to tell you something. Listen to it.
Step Two: Check in with yourself physically.
Are you hungry?
Thirsty?
Too hot/too cold?
Tired?
Getting sick?
Did you take your meds?
Is your chair uncomfortable?
Step Three: Check in with yourself emotionally.
Are you upset?
Depressed?
Anxious?
Overstimulated?
Excited about something else?
If you're experiencing any of these things AND you can solve them easily, do it! If you're experiencing any of these things but can't solve them right now, that's okay. Maybe it isn't the best time for a writing session. If you've checked in with yourself and everything appears fine, then it's likely a story problem.
Step Four: Diagnosis time.
Once you realize that a) you're experiencing resistance, and b) it's a story problem, it's time to diagnose the issue. One thing I've learned the hard way multiple times is that you can't push through resistance. I mean, you can, but more likely than not you'll be miserable. Not only that, you'll have forced yourself to write the wrong thing and will likely have to redo your work in revisions anyway.
So, here's what I did. I pulled out my two favorite books for story and scene issues:
Save the Cat Writes a YA Novel by Jessica Brody
How to Write a Dynamic Scene Using the Snowflake Method by Randy Ingermanson
In this case, the scene itself was technically fine, so I went straight to STC. I use STC in the initial outlining phase but allow myself flexibility when drafting. If the midpoint event happens at 55% instead of 50%, I figure that's what's required for my story. The scene I was working on happened to be the Break Into Two, so I flipped to that section and read the requirements:
Break Into Two must be:
Proactive (a decision made by the MC)
Still driven by want rather than need
This was my aha moment.
In my original scene, my MC Cal is trying to convince his troupe to do something. They have a straightforward conversation where Cal lays out his plan and his reasoning, there's slight pushback, but ultimately the troupe agrees with very little conflict.
Cal had no decision to make, and while he was driven by his want rather than need, there wasn't an opportunity to showcase that in the scene.
In the rewrite, the outcome stays the same (Cal convinces the troupe), but the way he convinces them becomes his decision. Does he tell the truth, or lie? And of course, the lie he tells is linked with his misbelief.
Just making that switch made the scene fun to write. It became interesting again, and I was able to knock it out in an afternoon session.
This is huge growth for me. In the past, I'd lose days, even weeks either trying to push through resistance and failing or avoiding writing altogether.
Now, GHOSTLINE is back on track *knocks wood*.
Remember, resistance is just your brain telling you that something isn't working.
