#mustwrite

Helllllooooo everybody ~

Happy Thursday Blogday!

Well, we’ve all been there. We didn’t mean for it to happen, but it just…did.

We stopped writing.

Life got busy. I’ve never been a fantastic multi-tasker, and back in the summer of 2016, it seemed like suddenly everything was happening at once. I was playing roller derby, and had practice 3 times a week. I was still working full-time at the hospital. And on top of it all, I was in the process of moving to a different city, soooo packing, packing, packing. As much as I didn’t want it to, writing sort of went onto the backburner, and then it slipped off completely. And I let it. I didn’t even think twice about letting it not be a priority. One week became one month, then two months, then three months, and then I stopped counting.

So, when the time came that I finally decided to pick up the pieces of my nearly finished manuscript, I was sort of at a loss of what to do. I had stopped in the middle of a chapter (ouch), and said chapter was a heavy duty one (double ouch). I had no clue what to do. I knew that I had overcome the hardest part by accepting the fact that I had screwed up, but somehow, it didn’t seem as simple as sitting down and writing again. In truth, I didn’t feel worthy to write. I almost felt like I needed to confess my sins, plead for forgiveness from my abandoned novel baby, and join a Seven Steps Program or something.

All this sound familiar?

I have done a good chunk of research, and have come up with ten useful tips on how to overcome the mountain that is known as Hiatus. Some of these may work for you, and some of them may make you cringe so hard it looks like you’re seizing. But whether all of them apply to you or not, they are still little gems to put in your writer bank!

1) So, first and foremost, allow yourself that pity party your brain is begging you to have. Eat junk food, wallow in guilt, maybe cry a little (ahem *points to self* moi), and procrastinate a bit more. Get it out of your system. And then, when you are finally ready to face the music (…manuscript?), move on. I know, I know, weird tip right? “But Scarlette, everyone else tells me to stop beating myself up immediately!” Ooook. Well, you’re going to feel guilty regardless of whether I tell you to or not. So let’s all just be real about this. You’re a human being. You feel things. You’re going to feel guilty about abandoning your baby and letting it collect dust. You’re going to want to beat yourself up about it. Use that to push yourself forward. Do it. Do ittttt. And then carry on.

2) Start slow. Maybe do some writing challenges or exercises. Do a writing prompt or two...whatever it takes to get the brain juices flowing (ugh...that sounds nasty). For me, I went back momentarily to fanfiction. Writing fanfiction was my safety blanket for a long time, and it felt nice to be on familiar ground while I more or less tried to un-rust myself. And really, much to my relief, it didn’t take long to get my groove and confidence back. One thing to keep in mind is that it's not a race; you need to figure out what works best for you to get back in the swing of things. It may take a couple writing prompts, or it might take an entire fanfiction. Go at a pace that is good for you. Your novel baby knows you are working hard. It’s not going anywhere. It’ll be there when you are ready. It’s not a race. Unless you have an epic deadline….then this is super awkward…may I refer you to my previous blog regarding motivation?

3) Do research. And by research, I mean reading. A lot of it. And I don't know about you, but sometimes when I'm reading, I'll find myself thinking, "Well fuck, I could've written this better." Yes. Hell yes. Use that. DO THAT. GET WRITING.

4) Once you are actively writing, allow yourself to get into the groove, and don’t stop. Unless you desperately need a pee break, sustenance in the form of snacks and liquids, or it’s a family emergency, don’t stop. Whether it’s for a page, or thirty minutes, or 500 words, or an entire chapter/scene, write your little cynical, introverted heart out. You’re going to force that groove out of its hiding place, the stubborn bastard.

5) Set a concrete, measurable goal.  “Write.” is not gonna cut it, trust me. I’ve done it before where I’ll get home after work, look at my Honey-Do List and see WRITE in big, aggressively bold letters staring back at me. I’ll then toss the list aside, grab my video game controller, and say, “Well, technically I wrote all day. Charting on patients counts as writing, right?” No, no it doesn’t. Give yourself something to work towards, such as a word count, page number, or set a timer and tell yourself that you’ll write for the next hour without stopping.

6) Don’t edit as you go. For the love of God, don’t edit as you go. Accept the fact that you are going to be rusty, and move on. Right now, all that’s important is getting words out of your noggin and onto paper. Save the editing for later. That’s what drafts (and drafts, and drafts) are for. The minute you start analyzing what you are writing, you’re going to only focus on how awkward and rough things are sounding, and you’ll lose your gumption to push forward. Instead of thinking, “Writing, writing, writing,” you’ll be thinking, “Shitty, shitty, shitty. Oh God, make it stop.” No. Bad. Don’t do that.

7) Accept the fact that your writing style has most likely changed. It's going to be almost comical re-reading and editing my first draft of HBE, considering I started writing it in 2014 and have grown so much since then. And by comical I mean I'm going to cry. A lot. But that’s the harsh truth of going on hiatus in the middle of a project. Things are bound to change. You aren’t the same writer you once were when you first started. Maybe this change is for the better, or maybe it’s for the worst. But guess what? You won’t actually know the answer unless you START FRICKEN WRITING.

8) Maybe start somewhere you were once really excited about. Now, I don't normally recommend this...I’m a fan of writing in chronological order, but if you are stuck on a killer scene and are dreading going back to it, especially now that you are feeling a bit out of touch with your writer side, maybe start somewhere a bit lighter, easier. Maybe there’s a scene you’ve been dying to get to, and you know that you could totally make that scene your bitch. If the only reason why you haven’t already pounced all over that scene is because of a fear of breaking out of chronological order, then you’re being stubborn and silly. Come on. Try it. Give in to my suave charm and give it a shot. It could be a confidence booster! And then, when you are feeling ready, go back to that killer scene and kick its butt.

9) Build up your habit/restart your ritual. Some people throw dance parties right before they get to writing. Some people like to read right before they dive into their own work as a way to be inspired. I personally like to clean my entire house about 15 times before I finally decide to sit down and write (DO NOT RECOMMEND). What was your previous ritual? Did it work for you? If it didn’t, switch it up! Instead of waiting until nighttime to write, perhaps get to work in the morning when your mind and body are refreshed and not weighed down and jaded by the day yet. Maybe try location writing. I know, I know, the idea of getting out of the house might seem awful and panic-attack inducing, but it might help stimulate your brain juices (ugh…said it again), and inspire you. Find a quiet little coffee shop, or hunker down in the corner of a book store. Get your favorite coffee/tea/cleverly disguised alcoholic beverage (no judgement), and write until closing time. Find a ritual that works for you, and perform it until it becomes a habit. Think of it as your bedtime routine. The moment you start doing this ritual, whether it’s brushing your teeth, washing your face, or putting on your PJ’s (this doesn’t work for me, considering I wear my PJ’s all day), something triggers in your brain, telling it, “Hey, it’s time for bed! Hooray!” The same will happen with your writing routine. The minute you initiate the writing ritual, your brain is going to register what is happening and jump into Writer Mode.

10) Revamp that outline. It's going to help remind you of all the hard work you’ve already put into your manuscript, how far you’ve come, and the fun things to come. Set aside some time to laze out on the couch with a glass of wine, and read your outline from start to finish. Not gonna lie, chances are it’s going to make you cringe a little *once again, pointing to self*. You might find plot holes, or god-awful ideas that sounded so good at the time but what the hell were you thinking? Were you wondering why I mentioned an alcoholic beverage earlier? This is why. You need to sift through all the bullshit and find the reasons why you fell in love with your novel baby in the first place. Get excited all over again. Review it, revise it, love it.

Bonus Tip: When you are done writing for the day and about to pack it in, set yourself up for success. Organize and prepare for your next writing adventure so that it isn't like pulling teeth when you attempt to convert brain vomit into word vomit. Personally, I like to stop in the middle of a sentence. I might know how I want that sentence to end right then and there, but I save it for the next day. So, when I open up my manuscript and see that half-done sentence just begging to be finished, I can easily do it. BAM! First sentence done. Piece of cake. I’M ON FIRE! Now onto the next one. It's a bit of a mind game, I know, but it's also a confidence booster for me.

And that’s it! See, jumping back into that novel doesn’t seem so terrifying now, does it? And keep in mind to take these with a grain of salt; some of these will work for you, and some of them won’t. Everyone is a unique, delicate flower, and not every drop of water from the watering can is going to make its mark on you. God. Cheese please. It sounded so much better in my head.

With that said, I post new blogs every Thursday, and if there is anything you’d like me to discuss, feel free to message me on here, or tweet me @ @ScarletteStone

Until next time, my beautiful, delicate flowers:

Sorry I don’t have anything today *flails*

So, here I am, feeling finally inspired. How do I know I am inspired? Well, I woke up earlier than JR, who is actually the early bird in the house. Waking up early doesn’t really count if you don’t get up soon afterwards. You guessed it, I got up today almost immediately after cuddling with him for about 2 minutes. I fell asleep in my sweater last night. Our bedroom must be really cold because I didn’t wake up in the middle of the night feeling boiled in my warmest sweater under our nordic (that’s how Catalans call a winter quilt. Pretty funny, ain’t it?)

I have wanted to be a writer for a long time. And I have started many unfinished stories ever since I was 15 years old, I think. Who doesn’t want to be a writer, right? I mean, even celebrities have at least one book about their life, experience or food. As if all that success and fame they gained from their career aren’t good enough (rolling my eyes here), so they had to write about it, too. Ok, maybe not all of them actually write by themselves. But still, my point is, everybody wants to write. It’s fascinating.

In the past, reading was the one of the only forms of entertainment. Writing was so significant back then. But now? I could spend a whole day watching Youtubers blab about their ‘October favorite’ and ‘Best foundation ever’. We are travelling to Japan around Christmas. So my recent new obsession is watching videos of Youtubers in Japan, covering a wide range of aspects, such as ’10 must try Japanese street food’ and ‘What not to do in Japan’. I don’t ever read ‘Lonely Planet’ or any other sort of books about the country that I plan to visit when I have all those videos actually shot in that country on Internet. And more importantly, they are free. You actually get to see the ramen dish being eaten by the Youtubers. So you don’t need to try to imagine what it looks like while reading a description of the delicious noodles. I bet in the near future, technology will allow us to smell and somehow taste while watching videos, too. Open your mind. We live in an era where nothing is impossible. Don’t you see the babies these days know how to play an episode of ‘Pepa Pig’ on the tablets?

So, why write?

Honestly, I think it is how I communicate the best. It is therapeutic. It is proven to be effective. Well, at least, according to those self-help books I read. Now they are called personal development books, which I rather prefer, really. Not only it sounds fancier and more sophisticated, but also it says ‘I am not seeking help. I am just trying to improve.’ There is no shame in admitting you need help, right? Well, you are wrong. There definitely is for me and many people. JR mocked me often when I went through 4 or 5 of those books in a roll within a few months. I commute for 1 hour to get to work, during which there are 40 minutes of reading slot on the train and subway. I was going through some stressful changes in my work life. Those books helped me. I am embarrassed to say that I did watch tons of ‘motivational speeches’ on Youtube. I also binged on The Ellen Show. You see, it is hard to come out about my vulnerability. Reading helps. Ultimately, writing helps. Those writers, scholars or celebrities write, and we read. They all help in certain ways.

Despite all those free content on Internet, all those colorful, interesting and even live videos out there, I still read. I don’t know why I do when I can watch videos or TV instead. Ok, don’t get me wrong. I still watch as many free Youtube videos as I can when I am having breakfast or lazying around the house at the weekends. So, if an Internet free content junkie like me can still enjoy reading and actually physically go to a bookstore to hand pick a book and PAY for it, why shouldn’t I enjoy writing myself?

I have mentioned my partner JR twice already. He is just a great companion and an annoyingly hyper energetic and productive superman (although he might prefer Batman). Compared to him, I look like an obnoxiously slow and lazy slug (that’s about the most accurate description of me, but not of slug). I write because I think it is a meaningful way to record my life and thoughts since I really enjoy trying to figure out the meaning of my life. And as I mentioned before, it is therapeutic as well. Right now, I also think it could be a good exercise. As a person who loathed sport (sport is an overstatement, I actually mean to say moving a single muscle) all her life (it’s me if you are wondering) has managed to make jogging as part of her routine every two days, there is nothing I cannot not achieve. Trump came to my mind instantly while I wrote the previous sentence. Who would have thought he could actually make it to the top of the universe (I’ve heard enough to safely say that many of  Americans really think the USA is the most important country in the universe. Not the world, the universe.) Anyway, making writing part of my routine would be a great improvement in my life.

I don’t want to start a story without thinking through the whole picture of the plot any more. I don’t want to write pretentiously as if I am some sort of cool writer because I am simply not one. I need to be realistic about my writing skills and abilities, which basically don’t exist. Now I’ve got only fat where my writing muscle should’ve been. That’s why from now on I start slow and small. I will be just writing whatever is on my mind or going on in my life. I won’t be the next best seller author. And that is totally fine.