(pic from here)
Continuing our Strategy and Motivation series, Alpha-Asian has written about Overcoming Writer’s Block. As you all know, Alpha is a successful writer for bodybuilding magazines, as well as a successful self-publisher of fitness books. As an author, he has achieved what most of us dream of achieving. If you’ve got writer’s block, definitely check out his post–there’s lots of good info there.
I personally have only once been paid to write (articles for the now defunct Asian Link newspaper–it wasn’t because they overpaid me, hahaha). Still, having started writing my novel last week and having written other longer essays, I do have some advice for those trying to write their way to literary fame. I’ve made some changes to my own method that give me confidence that I will finish. I hope this advice can help you too.
1. Change your “should” to a “must”. As Anthony Robbins recommended in our last Strategy and Motivation post, I have a list of “musts” that I need to do regardless of what else happens in my life. Writing three times a week for at least an hour each time is a must. The fact that it’s on my list forces me to do it (and yes, I know writers are supposed to do it every day, but I have two kids, and I’d rather have an achievable goal than just a dream). I think of writing as a career rather than a hobby, and it gets done.
If you don’t elevate writing to the appropriate level of importance, it’s way too easy to put it aside and to tell yourself that you’ll do it later. Especially when you have kids, there is always something else to do during those free hours when you’re suffering from a combination of sleep deprivation and a repressed desire to go out drinking . Make writing a priority to guarantee that the work gets done.
2. Make an outline. With an outline, you’ll know where to go and how to get there. Like everyone else, I have problems with writer’s block occasionally, but I more often have problems with writer’s jump, where I jump all over the place and don’t know where to go. A character wanders from one place to the next, and the story never ends because this writer has no idea how to end it. Or the story moves so quickly that important details get left out.
To combat this, I’m creating and will be working from a detailed outline. I’m finding that this outline not only serves as a good map, but it also helps me to think more deeply about characters and what makes them function.
3. Separate blogging and writing. Blogging is not normal writing. The key difference between writing blog posts and writing anything else is that blogging is a conversation. When you blog, it takes you about half an hour to write your posts, then you post it and get instant feedback. With normal writing, it’s you all by yourself, and you need to push yourself because no one is watching. Normal writing contains an element of depth and finality that blogging completely lacks, and I think it’s important for writers to get used to the loneliness under which this depth usually comes out.
With writing, you’re not aiming for immediate intelligent reader input (which is what I aim for with this blog); you’re aiming for people’s deeper belief and contemplation. It’s important to think deeply about what you’re writing and to bring your experience to the page. While the act of putting down words is the same in blogging and writing, both the thinking process and the development process are different.
I’ll finish on the same note that Alpha did. Writing means writing. Don’t be content to just talk about writing or think about writing–writers write. Work has to get done. That’s probably the simplest but best advice.
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I also wanted more rice than what could fit inside the wrap....
You’re right: blogging is not the same as writing a novel. Blogging allows you to write as you talk. Fiction writing is far more involved, because you have to set the tone and make world the characters operate in believable.
If you’re looking for an outline for say a movie script, then check out the book “Save the Cat” by Blake Snyder. This will help you write a movie script that sells. Of course, I wouldn’t know for sure, because I never wrote a movie script.
Alpha,
Did you know Blake Snyder just died a couple of weeks ago? Man, that’s a downer.
http://www.blakesnyder.com/2009/08/blake-snyder-1952-2009/
I’m learning this writing thing from the ground up. With blogging, it’s more or less just about the facts, but with writing, it’s about how you evoke images in the minds of your readers. Interesting thing this writing.
By the way, for the first time in my life, I successfully pulled a dream and turned it into (at least an outline of) a short story. Maybe I’ll have some stuff to submit to the journals when the school year starts.
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I’ve always had trouble with this endeavor. I think that what it boils down to is instilling a sense of discipline as well. When I want to, I can crank out product but I need focus and the tenacity not to give up and take too many breaks just because I’ve burned out on my inspiration.
Inspiration helps a lot to get you going, but if you are a real artist, you will continue to create because it’s something in you that COMPELLS you to express yourself. I have to say, I don’t have that constant drive. But having an outline certainly helps because it gives you structure and a place to start. Also, setting deadlines helps me. If I promise a friend that they can look at what I’m working on, the pressure is on me to get something in their hands.
I was talking with a friend of mine, who use to write professionally and in his free time always jots things down, who wanted to know how my screenplay was going. I was in a panic because I really had some jumbled stuff around. But that gave the me incentive to sit down, focus, and crank out the crucial intro (the first 10 pages) and send it to him. He liked it and thought it was a well done intro. In screenwriting, everything about the story needs to be set up in the first 10 pages: the who, what, where, when. If not, then the reader at the production company will chuck your screenplay and move on to the next one.
Additionally, I write and record my own songs in my spare time (I play guitar and bass and use a digital 8 track recorder). And I find songwriting to be a lot harder than straight fiction writing. Again, what gets me thru is a tenacity and forcing myself to be disciplined. Songwriting is different in a lot of regards, but still, you have to have a good work ethic, find structure, and take on the challenge of wanting to finish the song. I think you can take the same approach to fiction: challenge yourself to finish one page a day. Or finish one paragraph. Finish a chapter by the end of the month.
These artistic endeavors are fun, but at the same time, it becomes WORK. But when you’re done, there is a great sense of accomplishment and you have to please yourself first.
Exactly. It really is work. You would think that “creative” people just sit down and create, but lots of it is pure sweat. I’m totally motivated to do it, but I have to push myself, especially given the alone time.
Anyway, I’m still working on the outline, but I’m also writing paragraphs just to flesh out the characters/storyline. I write essays the same way.