On my “writing” days that I don’t have work in the morning or some early appointment:
Wake up, lay in bed for a while thinking, smoke a cigarette, maybe go to the bathroom, get back in bed and lay there for at least 20 more minutes, make coffee, drink coffee while facebooking, open the document I’m working on, realize I’m out of coffee and cannot write without it, smoke a cigarette, get more coffee, start writing, hit a wall, facebook some more, force-write some crap that might work later, give up, text someone, see if anyone wants to hang out, read, think about cleaning, get dressed, fix hair, eat, hang out with Corey, complain about how I didn’t get much writing done today, the day is over, lay in bed and pray, think about how it will be easier to write tomorrow, until the next morning, get up and do it all again.
Great writers say there’s no such thing has writers block, and that writers need discipline. But sometimes, I just don’t know what to write about. Have I really reached that point in my life where I stopped caring passionately about things? How is it that I’ve become so nonchalant, my mind suddenly so old? Where have all my deep impulses for writing gone? How do I find that buried thing that needs plucked out of me and put on paper for all to see? I would just give up writing altogether, but I’d be severely unhappy if I did that. Help me.
I also have trouble with writers' block. Therefore, I propose a partnership. I have four ideas that would work:
ReplyDelete1) You send me ideas for stories you couldn't make work, I do the same for you. We send each other our finished versions of each others' ideas.
2) We do some of those lame writing exercises they have you do in classes and workshops, like taking turns telling the same story, just to get our creativity going.
3) We just agree that once a week, we send the other at least one page of new work, which we will critique and return. If one page a week is easy, we up the stakes. If it's too hard, we suck.
4) We start a blog together, wherein we do any or all of the above. You know, since Blogger lets you do collaborative blogs.
Any of these strike your fancy?
Every writer, great or not, has these issues. What I would recommend:
ReplyDelete1. Get rid of distractions and discipline yourself more. Don't know what to write about? Write something. Anything. Really. Something can come from absolutely nothing, or complete bullshit. The fact is that if you set aside a specific time and place without any meaningless distractions, it lets your mind open. You think. You become creative. You become more disciplined and then, over time, you just do it.
2. As for inspiration, it comes from anywhere at anytime. In a funk, go do something you don't normally do. Try something new. Go outside. See people. Read the news. Read something you'd never read normally. Do something different. Have more than one creative thing that you do.
3. Talk to other writers. Join a writing group. Join a reading group.
I've been having the same feelings as you've described. Then, I ask myself: Why do I write? Answer: I love it. It's what I DO. To not do it, would be like not breathing. Sometimes you write pages, sometimes you write words. The point is that you keep a well trained mind regarding it. Make yourself sit down and do it. Cut out your distractions. Have some order to your daily schedule. I know this is hard for creative people, it's hard to get motivated right away. That's what discipline is for. Try carrying around a small notebook with you and jotting things down that just pop up. It can be anything. I wrote an entire book from a dream I had about a friend who was in college at the time and wasn't getting enough sleep. Weird, I know, but ideas can come from anything as long as you write it down. Keep it stashed away somewhere if you don't want to work on it right away. Just don't throw it out.
I don't know if any of this helps, but there you go, just my thoughts.