Sunday, September 18, 2011

The Write Stuff

1. I have this intense love-hate relationship with structure. Writing my novel without it renders the piece spineless, like a glob of jello. Writing my novel with it leaves my imagination and inspiration feeling bound and gagged, and any progress becomes inertia. How do I strike a balance between structure and imagination? I struggle with this ... a lot. It's the main hindrance to progress. It blocks me.

2. I have this fixation, this obsession, with editing. Every time I open my manuscript in WORD, I read what I've written so far, and edit. When I pause, after writing some, I revert to the manuscript's beginning and read, then edit some more. Sometimes, editing becomes my muse; sometimes, these edits allow me to see where I need to go next.

3. I frequently engage in a battle with my inner critic, which tells me that what I've written so far sucks, that I should just give up and start over. The inner critic can seem quite convincing. I have to invent ways to shut myself away from this nasty voice. Do other writers doubt themselves like this?

4. I have discovered that writing needs a schedule, that I mustn't wait to feel inspired. I can cultivate the feeling of inspiration by simply sitting down in front of my laptop and telling myself Go. I'm cheating myself otherwise.


2 comments:

Jolene Perry said...

What I do:

I write and write and write and write until I'm at the point where I don't know what needs to happen because I don't know where I am in the story. THEN I outline.
I outline until my creative juices start flowing and have direction again.
Works for me :D

X. Dell said...

Go for what works for you, and damn everything else.

I do think it helpful if you can find that psychological place in yourself where you can write. But that usually takes time. Traditionally, writers quicked the journey to that place through various naughty substances. That I don't reccommend. But there could be other things you could do there to get there quicker.

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