magnetic_pole (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
magnetic_pole) wrote2013-11-19 08:23 am
magnetic_pole) wrote2013-11-19 08:23 am
Writing post
I've been struggling with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
wrisomifu, folks. I'm not going to say I'm failing at it, because as ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fitofpique rightly pointed out the other day, the point of wriso is simply to try, and I've been pretty good about sitting down for ten to fifteen minutes at the end of the day (though less good about checking in). But I'm having have a hard time focusing and moving forward in those ten minutes. Often I'll fuss with things I've already written, or I'll write a few lines that don't feel connected to the rest of my story. It's frustrating, because I've experienced this lack of focus and momentum during wriso before.
So here's a mid-month check-in, in an attempt to learn from my mistakes.
* I think writing just isn't an end-of-the-day activity for me. I tend to work well late at night as I start to wake up again, between midnight and about 3:00a, at the quietest part of the day, when there are few distractions and I feel most creative. But as I get older I find I just can't stay up that late very often, and what initially seemed the more sensible alternative, shifting things forward and writing between 9:00p and 12:00m, is just torturous. I'm tired and negative. I do my academic writing first thing in the morning, and perhaps that's when fic needs to happen, too.
* I have a hard time being productive in anything less than two- or three-hour sessions, and ideally I'd prefer much longer stretches, of three to five hours. I wonder if I need to work with a more detailed outline in order to be more focused for shorter periods of time. I tend to gestate a new idea for while when I start a new story, and only after I've already worked a good part of the story in my head do I sit down at the computer. At that point, I usually have a very stern talk with myself about the fewest possible scenes needed to tell the story--my impulse is to start too far from the end and generate too much back story en route--and then I sketch out the scenes with a few lines each and start writing. But even then I may not be far along enough yet--there might still be too much work that need to happen at the moment I sit down with my keyboard. I need to think through how to identify and sketch out smaller story units that can be tackled in much shorter writing sessions.
What have you learned about yourselves as writers or creators, flist? Do you find yourself facing the same challenges or frustrations over and over? Have you been able to make any changes in approach that have improved the process for you?
wrisomifu, folks. I'm not going to say I'm failing at it, because as fitofpique rightly pointed out the other day, the point of wriso is simply to try, and I've been pretty good about sitting down for ten to fifteen minutes at the end of the day (though less good about checking in). But I'm having have a hard time focusing and moving forward in those ten minutes. Often I'll fuss with things I've already written, or I'll write a few lines that don't feel connected to the rest of my story. It's frustrating, because I've experienced this lack of focus and momentum during wriso before.So here's a mid-month check-in, in an attempt to learn from my mistakes.
* I think writing just isn't an end-of-the-day activity for me. I tend to work well late at night as I start to wake up again, between midnight and about 3:00a, at the quietest part of the day, when there are few distractions and I feel most creative. But as I get older I find I just can't stay up that late very often, and what initially seemed the more sensible alternative, shifting things forward and writing between 9:00p and 12:00m, is just torturous. I'm tired and negative. I do my academic writing first thing in the morning, and perhaps that's when fic needs to happen, too.
* I have a hard time being productive in anything less than two- or three-hour sessions, and ideally I'd prefer much longer stretches, of three to five hours. I wonder if I need to work with a more detailed outline in order to be more focused for shorter periods of time. I tend to gestate a new idea for while when I start a new story, and only after I've already worked a good part of the story in my head do I sit down at the computer. At that point, I usually have a very stern talk with myself about the fewest possible scenes needed to tell the story--my impulse is to start too far from the end and generate too much back story en route--and then I sketch out the scenes with a few lines each and start writing. But even then I may not be far along enough yet--there might still be too much work that need to happen at the moment I sit down with my keyboard. I need to think through how to identify and sketch out smaller story units that can be tackled in much shorter writing sessions.
What have you learned about yourselves as writers or creators, flist? Do you find yourself facing the same challenges or frustrations over and over? Have you been able to make any changes in approach that have improved the process for you?
no subject
no subject
"And I must be straight," said Partner. "Because I don't find it hot, either."
no subject
"And I must be straight," said Partner. "Because I don't find it hot, either."
:)
Dammit, though. That's not a surprise, but I kept wishing someone would see it and say it was much better than it seemed. Thanks for setting me back on track. M.
no subject
I know neither of us is a big hugger, but internet hugs aren't so bad, right? *BIG HUGS* I'm sorry you're struggling with things. M.
no subject
And when I need to, I can come up with some writing tasks I can effectively break down into short chunks: outlining, completing very discrete parts of that outline, or finding and organizing citations, for example. If I manage to complete a number of these tasks during short sessions, then when I have a longer stretch of time available I don't have "waste" time on the easy stuff. I think the danger of focusing on the need for long writing sessions is that if the time just isn't available very often, it's easy to procrastinate everything and fall behind. (Though of course I still do that at times!)
But - I don't write fiction! Which seems like it may need a different approach.
Would you be able to do both academic and fic writing in the morning - could you fit that into your schedule?
no subject
I definitely can't do both, at least on the same day. But perhaps I can spend one morning a week on the fic. (At least until I get small gifts done!)
I'm glad wriso's working for you! Nothing nicer than the feel of progress. M.
no subject
Another thing I'm learning is that even though getting myself to write is still hard, the actual writing of the words is easier when I do it every day.
So when November is over, I think my new goal will be 2500 words a week, which is to say 500 a day, 5 days a week. That gives me two days off each week so I don't feel too pressured.
This whole thing has been a good reminder for me that small amounts of daily progress will actually pile up surprisingly fast into large amounts of work accomplished.
no subject
This whole thing has been a good reminder for me that small amounts of daily progress will actually pile up surprisingly fast into large amounts of work accomplished.
*nods* Very true, and a good reminder. I'm having the problem that my words don't seem to be adding up to anything--if anything, they're spinning out in different directions--but perhaps I'm just at that stage when things are at their messiest.
By the way, I was happy to see your fish sauce post. Will be back over the weekend to comment there. M.
just dropping by to say
Re: just dropping by to say