I seem to be trapped in some kind of writing drought. I start things, then decide the idea is rubbish and abandon it. It's been months since I've had the kind of spark that makes me go YES! I WILL DIE IF I DON'T WRITE THIS STORY NOW!
So how do you fix a dry spell, writing or otherwise? I wish I knew. But here are a few things I've tried in the past, and they've worked, so I'm hoping they'll work again!
Take a break. Just forgetting about it for a few hours, or days, or even weeks could be just the thing.
Stop putting so much pressure on yourself to do it. Nothing kills enthusiasm quicker than feeling like you have to do something or else.
Try something completely new. Instead of trying to generate the same kind/genre/style of ideas, try doing something completely different. So if you write YA, try writing a fluffy romance for a few days and see what happens.
Just push through. If taking a break doesn't work, maybe just sitting down and making yourself write will. Who knows what a bit of forced scribbling will inspire? (This is always my last resort. Forcing myself just seems to take a lot of pleasure out of it, though it does pay off if I find a shiny new idea I can latch on to!)
Remember why you do it. I write because I love to. Because I need to. And sometimes, in the throes of deadlines and revisions and businessy things like getting a disaster-prone website up and running, I forget that. If you step back and remember why you do something, maybe you'll also remember something even simpler: if you love it so much, you’ll do it again. It'll always come back.
Any other tips or suggestions? How do you deal with a dry spell?
I generally take a break, but all of these ideas are good. Sometimes, I'll just read. Reading something I love can often inspire me to start writing again.
ReplyDeleteAll are very good ideas.
ReplyDeleteI'm just coming off of a 6 month break--kind of drawn out--but my characters just stopped talking to me. And, like you, I'd tried many different, new projects to keep me writing, and none of them woke my characters up. So, 6 months later, here I am, back to writing/blogging.
It will come back, just hang in there.
J
I take a break if I can, but if not... I sit down and just push through. I try to remind myself WHY I do it. Great tips, Sangu. Take a deep breath and relax, if you can. It will come.
ReplyDeleteBy feeling sorry for myself. Also most of the things you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteI've tried those you've listed and they have worked. Another thing I've tried is just a "random write" moment. No focus on genre, style, spelling or anything. Just grab the laptop, prop it up comfortably while I lay down, open a blank document, and just type nonsense and gibberish. When I've done this, I tend to laugh or find some interesting nugget that was stuck behind the "busy-ness" of life jumbled in my head. Basically, it's the writing version of having a stomach ache then puking so you feel better. Not the cutest analogy but I think you get the gist of it :-)
ReplyDeleteI've been taking a break. Guess I'll try forced scribblings next.
ReplyDeleteI'm in a bit of a dry spell, too. I'm working on a first draft, but I'm not nearly as invested in it as I was for my previous project, and it's not strongly calling to me. Right now I'm resorting to pushing through the writing--I set a goal of finishing it by November, and I will finish it by November. I will.
ReplyDeleteSo, I haven't been in a dry spell, but I have been tempted to quench what I'm writing by dismissing it as stupid/badly written. I call it the plague of the first draft. It doesn't hit during the first novel, but after months of editing, it hits hard. I've finally gotten to a healthy place where I can laugh off my critic and be like, "HAHA, FIRST DRAFT SUCKA!" and keep writing while laughing maniacally. It's...liberating. :)
ReplyDeleteI may come back to this later in the month. I'm attempting NaNoWriMo a month early (starting tomorrow) because I need some sort of giant kick up the arse to get me writing again - let's see how well I get on!
ReplyDeleteI’ve been reading quite a bit of late about two topics, boredom and intuition, and the one thing I’m starting to appreciate is what I’ve always referred to as the gestation period, the part of the writing that doesn’t involve doing anything remotely like writing. I’m also starting to appreciate after reading David Eagleman’s book, Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain is how much of our higher-level thinking is done by our subconscious. Being a writer is, for me, like being a man, and, for you, like being a woman, something we can’t do anything about; we are what we are 24/7. You are always ‘writing’ even when you’re not specifically thinking about writing. I didn’t write a thing for three years and then sat down and out of (seemingly) nowhere wrote two novels back to back having never written anything longer than a short story when I’d been at school nearly twenty years earlier. I don’t write a lot. I’m certainly not what you’d call prolific. I find I’ve said most of the stuff I thought needed saying and although there are a huge amount of things I’ve never commented on the list of things I have an opinion on is dwindling. I write about things that matter to me, things that won’t let go of me. I don’t write because I’ve not written for a while; that’s not a good enough reason for me. But that’s me and why would you want to be like me?
ReplyDeleteI think there's a lot of mileage to be made from just pushing through. Just sit down and write. Anything. Rubbish. I often watch an arts programme I've recorded and start to make notes on it. I don't make them for long. I find I've gone off at a tangent and I'm writing something of my own that I can use.
ReplyDeleteTake a break from ALL mental activity and go out and do something physical and passionate, a hard hike, a martial arts contest, a wall-climb, something that engages the passions of the body.
ReplyDeleteWith your body's passions fulfilled, your mind will quieten, your creativity will re-pool and you'll be composing good work again.
We all go through dry spells. Some longer than others. I think it's important not to obsess over it as I think obsessing makes it worse.
ReplyDeleteAll good ideas. I try and push on through it. If I force myself to write any old rubbish, I tend to - eventually - hit something that ignites the spark again.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Cute post! All great ideas!
ReplyDeleteox,
-Davie+Erica
Wardrobe Stylists, NYC.
>>http://www.lpfashionphilosophy.blogspot.com
Great suggestions. For me, dry spells are great for catching up on my reading, whether it be genres that I don't usually read or research that I could use later on in my story. I get inspired to try writing something new, maybe add something to my story, or it reveals something that I should change which puts me right back in front of my WIP.
ReplyDelete