Shout-out to Alex and the awesome co-hosts for today: SE White, Cathrina Constantine, Natalie Aguire, Joylene Nowell Butler, and Jacqui Murray!
June 1 question - When the going gets tough writing the story, how do you keep yourself writing to the end?
Feeling demotivated makes this question difficult to answer. I love writing. I truly believe it is the purpose of my soul, my life force, the energy that makes me me. Motivation and passion normally burn in me like that fire in Centralia. (Yes, I'm from this region. Yes, I've been to this place.)
Strong advice is to create a routine. Often, when depression or mind-numbing sorrow from too much mourning destroys the ability to function, the body can take on a sort of robotic routine. The coffee gets made, the bread becomes toast, teeth and hair get brushed... it's just going through the motions. Every single word I wrote while 🤖 existing that way is crap. It's dictionary vomit. The sentences qualify as such only because I picked out the correct parts of speech needed for words to form a sentence. The PURPOSE is to be able to say "at least I wrote today." Because not writing feels like failure, and the shame spiral continues and then there's nothing but failure and darkness. Guess where those words went...
I haven't honestly worked on my main project in a long time. My broken mind has thrown up roadblocks and other activities. I have dozens of reasons not to work on it. Give me a minute, and I'll come up with a dozen more. Do you know what'd be better? If I wrote a dozen sentences in the project instead. Or even edited some. Then again, while you can't edit a blank page, I have edited the crap out of some full pages. 🤦🏽♂️
There's always trying a new style of planning and plotting. I followed a different-to-me outline structure in April to get my A to Z story written. It was refreshing to finish a story. And this month, I'll be working on a short story for WEP's June challenge. ("This month's prompt is based on Please Read the Letter by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - a break up song and a moving plea for understanding at the termination of a relationship." - https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2022/05/wep-june-challenge-is-on-with-more.html ) A song I've never heard before by people I've never heard of... but the title makes me think of a line from This Ruined Puzzle by Dashboard Confessional. 🎵"I've written a note It's pressed between pages..."
Forgiving myself and trying again the next day is the only way I'll ever reach "the end."
Please also visit: The Insecure Writer's Support Group Book Club on Goodreads.
Happening at OperationAwesome6.blogspot.com:
Sara de Waard answers #13Questions in OA's Debut Author Spotlight Plus a Book #signedcopy #giveaway
Low enteries! Chance to win an autographed YA book. Closes soon.
None of this works toward my main project.
Unless I at least use my Existence characters.
🤔
That's an idea...
That's an idea...
Forgiving myself and trying again the next day is the only way I'll ever reach "the end."
Please also visit: The Insecure Writer's Support Group Book Club on Goodreads.
Happening at OperationAwesome6.blogspot.com:Sara de Waard answers #13Questions in OA's Debut Author Spotlight Plus a Book #signedcopy #giveaway
Low enteries! Chance to win an autographed YA book. Closes soon.
Great blog
ReplyDeletePlease read my post
ReplyDeleteYes, it's so true that the only way to reach the end is to continue writing. It's great that you're working on other projects while you're struggling with your main project. Maybe you can add 15 to 30 minutes of working on your main project to your day. I'm always surprised at what I can accomplish when I commit to working on a project for 30 minutes a day.
ReplyDeleteHopefully other projects will keep you going until you are refreshed and ready to return to the main one.
ReplyDeleteI keep a journal. When the times were really bad I started by journaling every day. But you're right there are no easy answers, just faith. Great post, J.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could establish a routine; I know you're right about that being a way to move ahead during those incredibly difficult times. My problem is that as soon as I think I have a routine, I don't. Something comes up to take me off into another direction, and poof...routine all gone.
ReplyDeleteI suppose if we had easy answers, we'd have nothing to write about at all.
I have learned to forgive myself if I don't write. Sometimes the story needs to brew for a bit before I know what comes next.
ReplyDeleteI'm a write-every-day sort of person, but sometimes you have to be kind to yourself, take breaks, journal (love Joylene's suggestion), work on something purely for the fun of it, or do something unrelated to writing that nurtures your soul. I hope things get easier for you.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry you're struggling. But you're right, forgiveness really is key to moving forward. You've got this!!
ReplyDelete