posted
Skadder was talking about this in a different thread.
I think it's inevitable that all of us experience periods where life simply gets in the way of our writing.
It could be work is insanely busy and consumes every erg of energy. It could be children, as anyone with kids can attest that they are bottomless time and energy sinks. It could be a relationship, as our spouses and loved ones require our time and energy as well, sometimes to the exclusion of much else. Or it could be one or several of a thousand other things: health problems, financial problems, emotional and spiritual problems, etc. All of these can conspire to rob us of our daily "window" during which we'd prefer to sit down and do creative writing projects.
I think the trick is to not let yourself get so overly frustrated at these things, that the frustration itself becomes an emotional block. In my life I know this can and does happen very easily, and as soon as I let my frustration over life 'getting in the way' of writing become just one more big thing that gets in the way, I know it's time to take a few very deep breaths, step back, and try to reapproach.
One way to beat this problem is to teach yourself to write in micro-burst. Five or ten minute clips, taken out of every day while you still have the energy to keep your eyes open. For a period back in 2008 I was so terrifically busy and enduring so much stress, I had to resort to taking my laptop into the bathroom with me and doing micro-burst writing while I sat on the porcelain throne. It actually worked better than expected, as the bathroom really is the one place in the modern house where a man can get an honest bit of peace and quiet. Not ideal, no, but I realized after months of writing not a single word, it was either try micro-bursts, or continue to produce nothing, and be horribly angry at everyone and everything as a result.
Another tactic is to examine your average daily schedule and find the "waste" time. Television, internet, texting, video games, talking in a coffee bar (or a real bar) with work associates or friends, etc. I think most people, when they do this, realize that there are many minutes every day that are basically wasted on stuff that isn't necessarily essential to life. Rather, it's a luxurious distraction. And if you simply apply a bit of time discipline and say to yourself, well, I can afford to do without this thing or that thing, you can open up 20 or 30 or even 60 minutes a day, during which you can sit down and put words on a page.
Of course, sometimes there literally is no time at all for writing. Anyone who is military knows what it's like to have to live on a crazy 24/7 schedule, and I know some jet-setting business people, as well as medical care workers, who function more or less the same way. Literally every moment not spent sleeping, is spent doing something else. Not writing. And if this turns into weeks or months of non-writing, it gets insanely irritating. You wonder, "When will I ever write??"
Good question. And one which all of us must at some point find the answer to. Often, I think it's just a matter of looking into the future and seeing a time when your schedule will loosen up, and just promising yourself that when you get to that point, you won't get lazy and begin filling the free minutes with "waste" when what you know you really need to be doing is punching out prose.
This is usually where I fall down hardest. Life gets busy, I get mad for not writing, promise myself when life slows up I will write, then spend the eventual slow times doing "waste" stuff and not putting enough time into the verbage.
[This message has been edited by Brad R Torgersen (edited March 05, 2010).]
[This message has been edited by Brad R Torgersen (edited March 05, 2010).]
[This message has been edited by Brad R Torgersen (edited March 05, 2010).]
[This message has been edited by Brad R Torgersen (edited March 05, 2010).]
posted
Good post, Brad. I subscribe to the "micro-burst" method, myself. Five to ten minutes at a time is about all I can manage before my kids find me in whatever place I've hidden myself in. I don't write a lot, but I do manage to get some writing done every day.
Posts: 968 | Registered: Sep 2008
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posted
Good post, Brad. The trouble I have is I have to spend my thinking time--when not writing my course work--thinking about writing my course stuff. It requires a lot of focus at present. Usually I spend my thinking time thinking about plots and what I am going write next--without that time I feel like a farmer who has failed to tend his crop--nothing is ready for harvest.
I should be done in a few weeks.
That said, my writing usually improves after fallow periods. In the past I have purposefully not written for a while when I have wanted to break old habits and create new ones.
Fingers crossed, eh?
[This message has been edited by skadder (edited March 05, 2010).]
posted
There is nothing worse than having anything intruding on your thinking time. When things intrude on my thinking time I tend to go a bit bonkers. Large pulsating chunks of my "writing" are done beforehand during my thinking time and interruptions to that are as bad if not worse than "real" interruptions to writing time.
It is, as I always say, all part of the conspiracy.
posted
I've always found this hard, because my writing (and critiquing, for that matter...) always come in "bursts" of a few hours.
In other words, IF I have been preparing: I think and ponder and craft a scene in my head. Then, I can sit down to write it. I usually thus spend 90% of my time thinkifying and 10% writing. But, of that 10% of writing, 90% is fixing what I wrote so that it sounds nice. (I edit alot. Move text around, jumble things up. Fix it. Unfix it. Ad nauseum...) The end result is that when I write for only 10-15 minutes, I get practically nothing done. Perhaps a single paragraph or so.
Now, I know I can eventually crank out a book when I go paragraph by paragraph. But, if I can get time to sit at my keyboard for a longer stretch... say, four hours at a time, then I can crank out lots and lots of pages. And here is the thing for me: they are pages that I like!
For me, I use those 15 minute chunks of time to organize my plots, write down ideas (I have a stack of idea cards on my desk, and usually in my pocket. As well as an un-sent email of ideas to myself that I add to if I am at work or whatnot...) So the writing in chunks is really just thinking in chunks.
Because of this, when I try to sit down and write for an extended period, it isn't my life that gets in the way - its my other commitments. Like, shouldn't I be writing my essay that is due next week? Or studying for my biochem exam?
I am going to dedicate some serious time over the summer, however. Once school is out, there won't be as much stuff pulling on my responsibility conscious.
We'll see how it works out. So far, it has. All my "good" writing has taken place in breaks from school. And I'm done in two months.
posted
The best solution for me (single parent, job requires ~ 60Hr/week in the office, average social life) Is to get up a little early everyday and write 30-60 minutes before "life" begins. It took a little while to condition myself to do it, but it is effective more than 90% of the time.
Once I committed to myself to begin writing, preserving my ability to make time to write is a factor in all my decisions. I have turned down job opportunities that would force me to be "on call" on a constant basis, for example. Writing wasn't the sole reason I did it, but it was weighed in the decision. It's just making time versus finding time.
Emergencies and disruptions do come, and the micro burst approach sounds like a great way to preserve some amount of continuity until the transients settle out. I'll have to remember it!
posted
I will reiterate another point I made a while back when I was so busy with opening the new restaurant.
A digital recorder- enabled me to "write" in unique situations. For example, I had a long commute two and from work which ranged from half hour to forty-five minutes one way, so by hitting record and orally expressing ideas and narrations, I enabled myself anywhere from a hour to hour-and-a-half each day, six or seven days/week of hands-free creativity. This also has a way of helping pass otheerwise idle time, and certainly helped pacify my road rage.
Of course it led to a great deal of dictating, but if you are efficient with your time and create a good system for yourself this can be a very productive method.
Notebooks- also led to a good deal of productivity. Even in place of the laptop, I created alot more "Productive use of down time, because even with the laptop, there is always temptation to surf the web, spend a lot of time here and other forums that aren't nescessarily a waste of time, but do in fact consume a lot of time that could otherwise be used more productively.
The use of notebooks also helped me with my world-building and other methods of story building. There is certainly something to be said of the way a few sharp pencils and some wire bound, college-ruled paper can help you capture and translate abstract ideas and channel them into prose. In a notebook you can do a lot of things you can't do as easily on a computer such as doodle, leaving you abstract and almost subliminal messages to yourself that later help you remember a train of thought or concept that occured to you at the time.
Back to the world building, permanent notes and flipping back and forth through pages, keeping categories have led me to a more thorough system of maintaining characters. Rather than typing random clips of passages, cementing and broadening these elements seems to aid me more than just typing onto a blank screen. I don't seem to record as much non-prose information when I use the computer only. Even if I don't look back to the pages of a notebook, somehow putting it on paper seems to etch it more permanently in my mind.
Turning off the TV- This above all else has enabled me to write productively. Even if I don't ust that time to write, I tend to read when I otherwise would be watching TV, which increases my knowlege of stories, why they work or do not, effective use of words and style, and at the same time I recieve the same or better entertainment from them.
Good luck to you in finding your own ways, but my number one suggestion is "Turn off the TV" and "Get off the Internet" Why are you reading this anyway?
This week, well the last two weeks have been my most productive. I have completed from scratch three new shorts and finished two older ones that had been simmering on the back burner for a while. In addition, I have nearly completed a short novel over the past six weeks and currently I am writing that into a screenplay for "Script Frenzy" the screenplay equivalent to NAMO
the latter of thes sucesses and productivity may sound more impressive than they actually are because transforming from novel to screenplay is a relatively easy, but time consuming task.
posted
I have to say this, even though it may just be another one of my strange, unique quirks that I have (like using words like "undulating" and "pulsating" in conversation for no apparent reason) but I often like/prefer to be doing/watching/listening to something else while I write. Sometimes, I'm writing and reading. Sometimes I'm writing a story, and writing posts/emails. Sometimes I'm writing and watching/mostly listening to the TV (not the undulating wasteland of broadcast television, mind ye, but my beloved Netflix Instant Viewing or suchlike), sometimes it may be music.
Again, this may just be me (its a well documented fact that I'm not quite like other people) but I thought it worth mentioning.
posted
Life doesn't get in the way of writing, life is fuel for writing.
Stop beating yourself over the head if you haven't put a word to page, and instead shut up and enjoy the inspirations you can get from those distractions when the time comes that you can put the pen to paper. Life ebbs and flows, the writing time will come back, and if it doesn't then wake up early, stay up late, hire a babysitter, or lock your bedroom door.
But don't complain because you have a life, because that is far better than the alternative.
Alas, like many writers, I am brain damaged and have a hard time enjoying "life" when my sickness tells me that life is just a gargantuan distraction from writing, and the pursuit of writerly goals.
While "mundane" concerns, especially unpleasant ones, can at times be problematic from a writing perspective...it is all potential inspiration. Further, for me I suppose I dont tend to...segment my life as much as some. Storytelling and storyhearing/seeing/reading/whatavering are all interconnected and for me all form part of my greater goals, which are essentially to create and to experience beauty and to gain and to give understanding.
But Elbesem knows it can be hard sometimes to see the beauty in car payments and meat slicing...
posted
My DID YOU WRITE line each Monday is to help with life getting in the way of writing. that idea is to get some of us to write sometime every week so we can say we wrote. It keeps something of the juices going. Of course, not all of us can write every week, let alone every day. I don't count my story ideas, though they add up to a lot of words. I am working on a project right now, rewriting the stories in the Waxy Dragon series of stories, to include information we worked out over the years and to make them truly readable. This means turning two pages into 70 pages, kind of thing. I am finding time to work on my project, but even then, it does not add up to a lot of words. There are weeks where I cannot get some story open in a week to write anything. I end up reporting that I did not write. the effect, though, is that I know Monday is coming up and I have to report something, so I force myself to work a bit on my stories.
It would be great if all of us could write full time. I will admit, though, that a couple hours a night is about all I can handle. I then have to go onto other projects, that is, unless I am hot on a scene and don't want to let it go.
For me, life does get in the way of my writing, but I do try to get SOMETHING written some time during the week.
posted
First of all, Brad it's great to have you here chatting with us, I love it. I'm Tracy BTW down in Murrieta, CA. On this topic, hmm. I've been affected lately by a line of thinking that goes something like this; "Ok, so this thing is really much much harder than it would at first seem. However, I actually reckon I have a shot since relatively little effort (after getting past the learning curve) yielded surprisingly good results - imagine if I really put major effort in. But, I also know a lot about people who have made it into the anthology and what it all ultimately amounted to for them. Or our own Sara Genge who has made a good name for herself in Asimov's etc and how it never really changed her life much and I have to ask myself, what's the point - even if you're as crazy good as Sara? The people who are really incredibly successful almost literally fell into it without even trying, like Stephanie Meyer or J.K.Rowling because they simply had amazingly marketable story ideas. Their stories didn't have to be all that well written because the stories themselves grew legs and became run away successes almost by themselves. Writing Sci-fi shorts is awesome and I love it but doing it well takes a tremendous amount of focus and dedication, I mean a tremendous amount. J.D.Everyhope spent three years getting "Circuit" just right working with a professional and expensive writing group (Clarion) and yes, she got it into WOTF, and I'm glad she did but wow, three years - and lord knows how much time and money."
This awareness is defeating me I'm afraid. LDS of course, are taught from an early age to strive for excellence and to show appreciation for their innate gifts and talents by sharing them with their fellow man. I know it's not as simple as that but it doesn't matter because I'm not LDS lol. I'm just a lazy bum who has a great job even in a crap economy so I'm not even driven by greed. Sure it would be great to see my name in print and tell myself, "they liked me, they really liked me." But hey, if you think vanity is of any real value you should avoid reading anything by Solomon.
I know there is a lot wrong with what I'm thinking here. Someone please fix me - or give me the Simon Cowell treatment and tell me to give it up.
[This message has been edited by tnwilz (edited March 05, 2010).]
posted
tnwilz, I will say this. I am a supporter of Tolkien's notion that we are "sub creators" (or just creators if you prefer) and that the act of creativity itself has great meaning and importance-especially when it is shared. Even if you never become a world-famous writer, even if your writing never makes a massive change in your life in terms of your finacial situation or becoming a celebrity or whatever, no one can tell your stories. Unless you tell them, you never will be. Now of course, they can just be told for you and whatever select others and thats fine and valid. But for my part, I want to try and see my stories made available to as wide an audience as possible...to give them pleasure and perhaps let them share in a bit of what I've learned about life and the world.
Posts: 2626 | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
If your not reading it then how do you know to respond I wonder?
I just want to add that I do not believe in writing debt. I used to make it important to write everyday. Of course there were days when that was impossible. So I wasted precious time feeling remorse for missing those days and trying to make it up. This of course didn't work. Feeling remorse about not writing did not make my writing better or get me to write more.
While I was working as an editor I got almost no writing done, because the same brain muscles I use for writing I also use for editing. Those muscles were tired.
Time past is gone, no use mourning it, for you kill more time doing it.
posted
Welllll seeing as how girls aren't my thing anyway that concept is sort of...well anyway, the point is we should just focus on me being inspirational and pulling people out of funks and not worry about these minor concerns of gender. I'm also going to add a link to your blog to my blog, because, well, thats just how I am.
Edit: Elbesem-darned Hatrack typing gremlins.
[This message has been edited by Merlion-Emrys (edited March 05, 2010).]
It may sound strange, but I started wanting to write when I thought that I was going to die. Even after I didn't I was and still in a condition that I don't aspire to be an old man or even middle age for that matter.
There aren't many ways to eternalize yourself. I started think ing of historians, and how most of our early history was recorded by story tellers. What can I leave this world that will prove I walked upon it. Even my wonderful children will no doubt carry my memory, but I cannot be certain that their children will, especially if I go before they are born.
How else can you leave a permanent mark? I will even venture to say that I do not do it for fame, because even if my work does become widely known, I will likely be in Phil K. Dicks position. I think the words I intend on leaving here have more to do with my children. In addition to the stories we share now, I would like them to have stories they can always share. I don't want to change the world or leave a legacy or be an all time SF great, I just want to tell the stories that I have within me.
I would love to make a career out of this. To earn a living at my craft would be incredible. I definately believe in that as a possibility.The interview Brad posted today was really encouraging. Everyday we are brow beaten into thinking that we will never make money in this industry. Perhaps we won't. I don't think the American Dream is a guarantee though, but as he said he has always treated it as a job and committed five hours a day writing and he contributes his sucess to that effort.
I have had the oportunity to devote more time to writing lately. I am really happy about that. I have been writing 6-8 hours a day for the last few weeks. My productivity has reflected on this. Sucess is related to commitment, no matter the arena. If you are to be a sucess at anything it requires a great deal of commitment.
But don't assume that since you cannot commit great amount of time that you are not a sucess. Writing is something I do because I enjoy it. There is no other reasons than what I have given. If you call yourself a writer, and you actually write, and you strive to better yourself, then you should congratulate yourself, because you are doing something you believe in.
If you are striving to become someone like Sara, keep in mind that it was really only last year she entered that arena. From what I gather(please forgive me if I am wrong) but she is a sucessful doctor in Spain. Keep your eye on her this year. I would be surprised if she doesn't have at least a dozen pro pubs. If she is even submitting stories? I wouldn't be surprised if one of her stories this year gets nominated for one of the big awards. It hasn't changed her life yet, but as time goes it could if she remains in the game.
There is a lot of Nay saying involved in advice to begining writers. Some of it is justified of course, but I suspect it is to thwart half of the world from having a serious 'Jerry Maguire' moment. The quit my job and write because I can't stand this hive-mind dead-end job. Just don't let that influence how you feel about what you do or what you think you can do.
posted
Thanks Scott, your determination is inspiring. I think Sara is actually working on a novel now but she is also like you say, a doctor in Madrid.
Posts: 556 | Registered: Oct 2006
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posted
"Stop beating yourself over the head if you haven't put a word to page, and instead shut up and enjoy the inspirations you can get from those distractions when the time comes that you can put the pen to paper"
I think when we fail to do this, it is because we feel we'll never actually get the novel finished/published/whatever if we aren't producing stuff. Its kind of like a twist on OSC's advice, if we write, we are writers. But if we aren't writing...
I'd suggest shimiqua here is half right! We need to stop beating ourselves over the head, but sometimes we need to kick ourselves in the pants also and get to work...
posted
Life has always gotten in the way of my writing...besides being busy and being tired and that need-to-earn-a-living thing, sometimes life is just more interesting to me than writing.
One reason I tend to write in blocks of five hundred words a throw, is that I use that to defeat life's intrusions, to keep the work interesting to me. It doesn't always work...but when it kicks in big time, I find I'm doing writing even on my so-called "busy" days.
posted
I was listening to the Stephen J Canell link posted elsewhere on here - and watched a lot of his interviews - and his advice is perfect for this thread, i think. He says there will always be things in life that'll take your time - like running his own production company, pitching ideas, executive producing, schmoozing with hollywoodites, family etc. So he had to do three things:
1) He placed a high priority on his writing: First came Family/Health etc..., then right after those - writing. No trips, parties, games, concerts, movies, music, video games - all those took a back seat for him.
2) Get it done first and really early no matter what. He would wake up everyday at 3-4 AM in the morning - and get ~4-5 hours of writing in no matter what. He'd always be done around 8 AM ready to go to work by 9.
3) He wrote everyday - including saturday and sunday . He did that for 30+ years and still does. He said that 5 hours a day for a few decades is a lot of work - this was how he wrote 40 TV Shows over his career.
His other methods, if you like: 4) he always wrote a 50 page treatment of his story before he writes his novels so that he knows the plot in detail - But when it came to writing the story full length he would freely deviate as better variations came along the way. This way, the basic story plot, subplots, and details were already there so he could always avoid writer's block. 5) He uses a very general 3 act structure for his plot: Act I-Problem, Act II- complication and devastation of hero's plans, ActIII-resolve the problem+complication. He always did this first - then varied it if he needed. 6) Maintain healthy relationships/lifestyle so you're not adding burdens to your mind/body. Resolve 'bad-blood' quickly - go out of your way to find a solution. 7) He never worries about spelling. He has been and still is very dyslexic and his spelling is terrible. But the story doesn't depend on spelling - that can be fixed later. 8) pay people better than you at certain things to do the job. So he pays someone to fix his spelling, mow the lawn, be a line producer, etc. Don't try to do everything yourself. This go hand-in-hand with prioritizing writing first.
Good advice all around I think for not letting life get in the way of writing - at least, for those key few hours.
posted
Life (usually other people's lives) is always getting in the way of my writing. Every week I get about 100 pages of clinical papers I have to review (check for grammar, use of correct terminology, avoiding certain proper nouns, and time and billing justifications). I spend a good part of my weekend reviewing these. My weekdays are spent reviewing and making corrections on quarterlies, annual reports, and other paperwork, and I'm completely worn out by the end of the day. I get home and don't feel like reading (or writing) anything. On top of all this, I have several clinicians who cannot write legibly.
Prior to this, I was one of the clinicians (one who could write legibly, which is probably how I got my current position). I spent my weekdays working long hours with my clients and spending my weekends writing notes. Both jobs have paid fairly well for the average income in my field and for this part of the country. But I do miss having the time to write.
Of course, my wife and son are the most important investments of my time, so with everything, it seems I never will have time to write (not until I'm retired or win the lottery).
posted
Philo, i hear ya. Especially if you have those 10-12hr workdays. have you tried writing first thing after you wake, then going to work, and then relax for a few hours in the evening?
Maybe doing it first, when your fresh, batteries charged, mind open and receptive to ideas, might be the ticket...I know easier said than done, but if you're less tired when you write, then that's one less obstacle...
posted
Once upon a time, I craved for time to just write. And as things worked out, I was able to do it. But what I learned rather quickly was that I can't "just write". I needed to be around people; small children didn't count. I needed to be doing things. I needed to have a life.
Then there were times when writing was nearly impossible. Years ago, I was writing romance novels. Ever try writing romance while you're going through a divorce? So in order to keep myself from going crazy I had to give myself permission not to write.
I always knew I would get back to it, but for awhile things like raising children, going back to school and then embarking on a very demanding new career had to take priority.
Then about five years ago I realized the kids were mostly grown, the job wasn't stressing me out so much anymore, there wasn't anything on television and I didn't have a social life, so maybe it was time to get back at it.
It was difficult at first because I didn't have the discipline, but I forced myself to write every single day. It meant I had to get up early(very hard), write during my lunch break, stay after work for a while (but I missed afternoon traffic so I still got home about the same time), and give up television almost completely (not so hard). I had to be very selective on what I read, and I had to keep outside commitments to a minimum.
Now if I go more than a few days without writing, I get really grumpy.
But what I've also discovered is that I don't need large blocks of time to be productive. Even five or ten minutes can be worthwhile. Half an hour? A gift. Two or three hours? My ADHD kicks in.
I don't regret the time I wasn't writing, because when I finally settled down and got back to it, I discovered my writing was deeper and richer and, frankly, better. I also discovered I had a lot more to say and a much more interesting voice.
So, what I'm saying is don't sweat the time you don't write. It's all research anyway.
[This message has been edited by Heidi (edited March 06, 2010).]
posted
Yeah, billawaboy, I guess I could do that. If I woke up around 5-6am I could get an hour or two in. My wife leaves for work around 7am and then I get my son up. He's pretty self-sufficient, except I usually pick out his clothes and make his breakfast and his lunch to take to school. Then I get ready.
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posted
I heard the strangest advice on writing from Rod Serling on Writing yesterday (youtube, not his ghostly apparition)- he said, "Write until you get to a very exciting part of your story - then stop. It's the best way to beat writer's block, 'cause the next time you sit to write you're starting off hot."
Not sure I buy that completely - very counter intuitive - but if it helps someone on here...
posted
My big challenge to writing right now is this overwhelming desire to sleep. And vomit. Another month and hopefully that will clear up, but until then...
Posts: 303 | Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
sholar...better check in with a doc - wouldn't want you to vomit in your sleep and asphyxiate on your own vomitus - it has happened before...
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posted
I am living off ginger snaps right now. My dr today told me he loves ginger snaps. They are ok, but when you are eating them everyday, it gets old fast. Posts: 303 | Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
I just started taking med micro - so I have no clue what parasite you got, lol. But I will in few months (hopefully). Get better soon, man.
Posts: 342 | Registered: Aug 2008
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quote: If you get it done right away you don't have to worry about getting to it.
That would be lovely, except I find that writing just spawns a greater desire to write. Pretty soon stories just want to explode out of me. And since, like all of you, my writing time is extremely limited, things can get rather messy around here.
posted
Well, in a few months, we will hopefully know if it is a boy parasite or girl parasite. And yeah, I am most assuredly not a man. Posts: 303 | Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
Heh, heh. Now that someone has spelled it out for billawaboy...my wife tried ginger during the first three months (about three months until the birth of our first parasite), but she hated the taste, so she relied on fruit tingles. Congrats Sholar.
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Parasite. The 40 weeks kind that you love and spoil.
And yeah, I am most assuredly not a man. 
