by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
I read an interesting article by James Preston titled “How to Get to Carnegie Hall. ” Preston used an old joke as the basis of the piece: A tourist asks a resident how to get to Carnegie Hall and the resident replies “Practice, practice, practice.”
Preston goes on to list exercises that help him write on uninspired days, including writing letters from the protagonist’s POV, and writing a paragraph about your character’s life before the time your story starts.
Sometimes a project seems so big and so overwhelming that it feels as though we must have equal parts inspiration to face it. But this isn’t really true. I’m usually uninspired when I sit down to my manuscript every day. Inspiration usually only hits about five minutes into my story, when I become immersed in the story world. I know what I do every day at 5:30 in the morning, however: I write. It’s practically muscle memory at this point.
But some days start out chaotic (fortunately, these days are few and far between for me now) and we can’t write on our schedule: inspired or uninspired. Kids can be sick, animals can be sick, we can be sick there are family emergencies, etc. For those days, there’s nothing wrong in skipping writing altogether.
But if you’re worried that you’re going to mess up your writing habit from taking a break, there are things that we can do to make progress on our stories (practice, practice, practice), even on the toughest days.
Writer
“Working out plot and character elements, and turning them over and over to consider all the possible ramifications and permutations, is better done without access to a keyboard.”
What I do on tough writing days is a sort of focused brainstorming. When even brainstorming can seem too tough, focused brainstorming, in the form of making lists, can be an easy and productive way of working. Top 10 ways for my protagonist to change during the story, 10 details of my story’s main setting, 10 possible endings for my book.
More on my method here in my post from 2010.
One important note: if you do skip a day or two or three of writing, don’t try to catch up. It’s incredibly demotivating. Just jump right in wherever you are in your manuscript and make that day’s goal. Pick up where you left off.
What are your thoughts about taking breaks from your story? Is it easy for you to hop back in? How do you make progress on your book on the toughest writing days?
Tips for making progress on our books during the toughest days: Share on XPhoto on Visualhunt
My biggest routine breaker is lack of sleep. Once a month I wake up more tired than I went to bed. Trying to be creative would be a frustrating waste of time.
So, I organize. Go through the manila folder for the wip and put addressed issues to the back. Scan for unanswered questions. Not to answer them, just to tuck them into my head again for my unconscious to chew on. Read through my scene list and writing notes. My unfocused state lets thing slip in unfiltered and sometimes I have flashes my awake and alert mind has missed a dozen times.
I try very hard not to leave a story for more than one day (during the week; I don’t write weekends.) Even if all I do is revisit old haunts it keeps the buzz from quieting.
I’ve learned the hard way that I’ve got to touch base with the story at least every couple of days or all the bits I haven’t written down start to fade and, as you say, the buzz starts to fade.
It does make it a little harder to jump in, too. I’ll have to read the last couple of pages to see where I left off and this sometimes puts me in editing mode instead of creative mode.
I hear you on lack of sleep! I’ve read that it can be helpful for writers to mull over their story right before falling asleep, for the same reasons you mention. Not that I’ve tried that. :) I really need to.
The Zeigarnick Effect: if we have something unfinished in our mind, our unconscious will keep working on it. Specifically, find a question you need to answer about your story, get it clear in your head, and head for bed.
Fascinating aside: if you’re learning something physical like playing a musical instrument or typing, practicing right before bed will cause your brain to continue to fire the same pathways and in the morning it will be like you’ve had an extra hour of practice.
That is fascinating, for sure…hadn’t realized that it extended to physical learning, as well.
Writing every single day is almost impossible. (I say almost because I know someone who has done it for I think two straight years.) We do need time to mull over the directions of the story. Although don’t spend a year doing that…
Right…there comes a point where it’s procrastination and not mulling-over!
I really like these ideas, Elizabeth. I think it’s important to stay at it – to keep writing – even on those hard days. But, as you’ve shown, there are plenty of things you can do to also be kind to yourself. When those days hit me, I do character sketches, or I play with words I might want to use, or I skip to another place in the story and write a scene I’ve been thinking of. Anything like that helps me to be productive. And that helps me feel better about the writing.
Skipping around in the manuscript is a good one…I’ve done that a few times when I’ve been stuck. It was tough to iron out the transitions later, but ultimately worth it.
I’ve had days where my writing sessions get pushed off to the end of the day and I’m so tired I don’t want to create anything. I make a deal with myself that I only have to write 100 words in that case–but then I usually want to see it through to my usual number.
If I couldn’t manage anything–not even 50–then I have a number of things I could work on that I probably wouldn’t include in my manuscript but would help me dig deeper into the story: biographies of the minor characters, interactions that are referenced but wouldn’t show up as its own scene, the history of some of the people I’m writing about, etc.
As for catching up, agreed. I set a manageable word count goal and almost always go over it by less than a hundred. Therefore I’m well ahead of where I’m scheduled to be, so a few hundred words less or a day skipped here and there won’t be a setback.
I’m like you…I’m really not up to writing at the end of the day and I do it rarely. If I *know* I’m going to have a late night (waiting for teenage daughter to come home from a concert, prom, etc.), then I can usually put aside a little energy to knock out some writing in the evening. Or drink caffeine to make sure of the energy. :) I’m usually asleep at 9:30.
Character biographies is a good idea.
It’s always so much more motivating to be ahead!
Hi Elizabeth – I see no-one’s mentioned mind-mapping … I keep looking at it and using it occasionally … but I’m only writing short ‘things’ so don’t need it really as a tool. On occasions I’ve used it.
I hear what you’re saying about practising before bed – so often problems get solved overnight … but the reinforcements here are so interesting to read.
Being organised is my bete noire … I hate a mess or indecision … must get things straight here though … change of continent isn’t being that helpful so far … but Spring is here – things will/must change.
Cheers Hilary
Good point about mind-mapping! That can be really helpful for writers. If anyone is unfamiliar with the technique, a helpful article is here: http://iainbroome.com/mind-maps-stories
Good luck with the organization! I think moving to another continent would make anyone a little messy. :)
I usually give that old writing advice: write a line every day. It’s actually from an old quote about painting – creating a line each day. There are days when I don’t write at all – not even one line, and those are days that just fill me with restlessness, or days that everyone (from dog to parents to husband) is sick. But, usually, I just pick up the next day, or two days later, and I write a line or two, or for five minutes. Then, I can start writing more freely again wherever I left off on a WIP.
Good ideas here, Tyrean! It only takes a short amount of time each day to create a book later in the year. :)