REMEMBERED WHERE MY PENS ARE asks: I recently started writing creatively again after a very long time. Do you have any tips about keeping momentum and not getting overwhelmed? I've only ever written short stories previously, and the project that I'm working on right now is turning out to be longer than others I've worked on before. This is something that's strictly for me/for fun, so I welcome all kinds of tips. Thank you!
Good Paul says:
Like most creative endeavours, writing is both ecstasy and agony. It’s solitary even when it’s collaborative, and the better you are the harder you tend to be on yourself.
People approach this configuration of emotional realities in all kinds of ways, and the first and most important thing that will help you to write the way you want to is to understand yourself, what exactly is the way you want to, and what—for you personally—is likely to stop you or hamper you.
You said you need tips for keeping momentum, that you are concerned about getting overwhelmed, and that this is strictly for you. It sounds like you’re enjoying the process of writing, and you’re worried about getting fixated on the end product. It’s a common issue. There’s an old writing joke, attributed to Dorothy Parker but a quick Google search can’t confirm that she actually said it, that goes something like “I hate writing; I love having written.” Bear with me, because I’m going to obliterate the humour in a joke by analyzing it.
The major source of humour in that quip is the irony that having written is only possible if you write, so the image is of suffering through something hated (writing) to achieve something you love (having written). It’s a joke, though, and although it feels true to a lot of writers (and other creative people) sometimes, it can’t be. If you hate writing but love having written you will stop writing. You have to love writing at least sometimes if you’re going to do it at all.
You have to love writing at least sometimes to start.
You say you’re writing for yourself, for fun, so I suspect that you do enjoy the writing part, for now. How do you keep enjoying it?
Keep your emphasis on the process not the product. Make sure you keep finding the joy in writing, not just having written.
Write regularly. People say “write every day,” and that’s good advice for some, but if you are worried about burning out then I recommend relieving some pressure on yourself and instead writing five out of seven days every week. Don’t make it a chore, make it a recreation, so don’t worry about the quality of what you write, just that you write.
Some people find a word-target motivating, while others find it stifling. If you like writing to a limit, then I suggest 500 words a day. If you don’t, then set a timer and write for a set period of time every day instead of trying to hit a set amount of words.
Plan for editing time. Go back over what you’ve written and edit it, polish it, tighten it up, and count that as writing. I like to think of editing five pages as equivalent of writing 500 words.
So if you’ve been paying attention you’ll see that I keep recommending fives. What I do myself is what I call a 5x5x5 writing pattern, and I try to remember to think of it like a pattern or a rhythm, not like a schedule, because I find that my mind balks when I start thinking of things as chores.
I write 500 words or edit 5 pages 5 days a week. If I feel inspired to do more than that I do, but I do that much as a baseline. Most weeks. And it works for me.
You may find that you want to say half an hour instead of 500 words, or three or seven days a week instead of five. There’s no wrong pattern, especially if it’s all for your own pleasure.
Some other quick tips:
Always stop in the middle of a thought—preferably in the middle of a sentence. That way when you start the next day it will be easy to get going, because you won’t have to start a new thought.
If you ever get stuck, write something bad on purpose.
If you’re feeling stuck or blocked, look away, or close your eyes, or write in the dark. Write without seeing the words appear.
You don’t have to connect all the dots all at once on a big project. If it’s feeling overwhelming, skip the connective tissue and just write the high points. You can go back and write what gets your characters from high point to high point later.
Sometimes I like starting with point form. Write a nested numbered point-form list of plot moments or snippits of dialogue. Then go back and expand them one-by-one into full paragraphs and pages and chapters.
Finally, I just want to cheer for you! Doing creative things can be scary, and many people find it hard to silence their internal critic. I hope you keep finding joy in it, and if you ever decide to share what you write with someone I hope they love it! I’m rooting for you!
Bad Paul says:
If you only hear one thing from me, PENNY, I hope it’s this: anything worth doing is worth doing well. Which really means, nothing is worth doing unless you’re perfect at it.
Do not write unless you’re writing something good.
Think of it this way. You are joining in a rich tradition. And that tradition is competetive. Writing, like all human activity, is a competition. By writing you’re essentially placing yourself in the running with people like William Shakespeare, and Toni Morrison, and, I don’t know, James Patterson or whatever. The point is, if you can’t write at the world-renowned genius level at least write at the international best-seller level. Anything less is letting down literature itself.
If that doesn’t motivate you, you’re probably not cut out for this.