Last night was tough. Concentration was hard to come by. The words seemed to come soooo slowly. I kept looking at the clock: two hours of my three hour writing block was gone and I felt like I’d barely written anything.
I tried starting a section a couple of different ways but nothing caught. I tried music; songs that I related to the story, songs that evoked any emotion at all. Still nothing.
So I waited. Leaned back, laid down and just thought about my main character and other characters in the scene. I stepped into each of their minds and meditated on their desires and what they wanted from one another.
Time passed.
Then with about 15 minutes left I took a third strike at the wall and broke through. It still didn’t feel great but I’d committed to write so I did just that. All told I got to about 1000 words out longhand in 45 minutes (I extended my block a half hour), finished chapter 3 of the manuscript and achieved most of what I wanted to achieve in the session.
Another plug for hanging in there, keeping at it, and being patient!
I told someone earlier today I think success in writing is 5% writing and 95% waiting. Even after you’ve done your part by writing the thing, you wait a while before you edit and polish, then you wait for an editor or agent to respond to your query. Then you wait for them to respond to the first 3 chapters. Then you wait for them to accept or reject the entire manuscript. Then you wait for the editorial board to share the editor’s enthusiasm. Then you wait for the book to be published. Then you wait for people to buy it.
What you should never wait for…is starting your next work-in-progress. Never wait for inspiration to strike. Sit down and begin, even if all you write turns to crap on the screen. Sooner or later, it will turn to gold.
Don’t give up.
–kd
Hi KD! Thanks for your comment. Your words bring to mind the fine line between patience and resisting opportunities to progress. As an indie author I have had a number of conversations with writers about patience since this post. About when to wait and when to take action in the writing process and in the business side. I like what you have to say about starting the next work. I generally think that artists writers who have things to say must continue to create. I also think there is a discussion to be had about the over reliance on major publishers or film studios to share their work with the world. Do you have thoughts on that part of the journey?
I’m not sure if you mean a writer’s over-reliance on traditional publishing and corporate film studios to take on projects. But I’m going to assume that’s the point.
I’ve always resisted self-publishing, but that doesn’t mean a person should not pursue it if he/she wants to. My feeling (for myself) is that if my work isn’t good enough for someone to pay me for it, then I need to look at it again and fix its flaws and weaknesses. Doctors do not go out on the street, pull someone into the office and say “I’ll give you $10,000 if you’ll let me take out your appendix. I’ll even pay for your hospital room and all your aftercare.”
Serious writers, if they want to be professional, should spend time learning and perfecting their craft, give a few years to “internship” and then get paid for it. If a writer knows he’s going to self-publish, the work he offers the world may not shine to its full potential simply because he knows it will be published and never rejected.
But, as I said, that’s just my personal feeling on the subject. I have friends who self-publish and I’m proud of them. It’s just not my cup of tea.
By staying true to my calling, I did the above “internship” for a long time. I now have a book under contract with one publisher and getting ready to sign a contract for another book and an entire series with another. These are traditional publishers who will pay me, not vice versa. Patience, my dear, patience is what it took. That, and undying belief in myself and my work.
–kd
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the matter, though our opinion of self publishing may differ somewhat, I respect your point of view. Self publishing is a vast sea of approaches from the writer who uses zero professional resources except perhaps a printer (many call these folks “vanity”) to indie authors who, like a savvy indie filmmaker would, assemble their own professional team to assure their artistic vision is properly fulfilled. I am one of those authors. I’m from the indie film/theatre world and so such a process is organic for me.
The flavor of the surgeon analogy is a familiar one. In surgery there is a narrow scope of possibilities that lead to success. To relate this to publishing suggest that there is few to one process to be effective in writing and sharing the work. It also eliminates the business aspect of indie authors. The doctor in your scenario is giving away $10,000 for no reason at all. There is no analogous investment. That doctor will have no product or service to show for his money. The indie author has a novel he or she can sell on the market just as your friends likely do.
That said, amen to two great truths you eloquently articulated which applies to all of us: “Serious writers, if they want to be professional, should spend time learning and perfecting their craft.” and this critical element “undying belief in myself and my work”
Rock on and congratulations on all of your success. May it continue and multiply exponentially.
I like your idea on meditating on the characters, though I’m not sure I have the self-discipline for that myself. I have a difficult time staying still and concentrating on one thing (and, of course, I choose to be a writer, which is all about doing just that).
I have a lot of times where I’m stuck at a scene. Mostly, I just play it by ear. Sometimes I’ll be “patient”: if a scene is really troubling me, I’ll ponder on it, most likely sleep on it, and wait until it’s stewed a bit to try again. I think, like in cooking, sometimes an idea needs to “simmer” for a while. Even if we’re not consciously pondering on it, it’s back there in our subconscious, trying to figure itself out.
Other times, however, I do get impatient. I get sick and tired of waiting around. If I wait too long, my idea will boil off instead of cooking. At those points I either a) force myself to write, if only for five minutes, writing down whatever comes to by head (normally with Write Or Die glaring at my screen); or b) I brainstorm. I use index cards for my outline, and I just write down ideas for events, questions about my story, what needs to happen to keep the story going. Sometimes it’s so simple as a card written to myself that says “Figure out what you’re doing with the dog.” It’s not an answer to my problem, but it’s a solid thing for my mind to attach to. Everything seems so much more important if it’s on paper (especially when I put it in red ink!). It gets the gears turning, and normally is very helpful in getting me past that ugly block.
Well, that was probably more than you wanted to know, but that’s my opinion/personal experience on writing and patience!
Awesome comments Bethany! I love the talk here about process and I love the talk here about balance. You have a process for what you do when you feel you need to press forward and “play through” instead of wait and let simmer. That is a balanced approach, its discerning, great!
“Even if we’re not consciously pondering on it, it’s back there in our subconscious, trying to figure itself out.” Love that. I have the same experience, but as well I know when what I really need to do is write and allow the immediate creative process to be a catalyst to breakthrough.
Great thoughts, Thanks for sharing them!
I read the conversation you and KD had. And although I love the persistence and patience shown with traditional publishing, I enjoy the ability to own all of my own rights with self publishing. I have had agents ask me to query them, and I have said, ‘No thanks.’ I might try it next time I’m asked, but I don’t know for sure if I will.
I didn’t just throw my book out there unclean. I had a professional with iUniverse read it; tell me what stunk and what was good. I paid to have it edited and then proofread by professionals. I did all I could to treat myself like a traditional publisher would have treated me. My book can be ordered in a store or it can be bought online. I am very happy with my choice and I have enjoyed working with my publisher, one that works for me. I think there is a stigma that comes with self publishing that I don’t like. People assume that this path is not by choice because, ‘Wouldn’t you rather get paid for it?’ I do get paid. It takes a little more time to break even and sometimes (I’m sure) I never will. It’s like owning one’s own business, sometimes it’s hard, other times it booms. I also get paid by gratification. I will admit it is a little harder to get sales, but when I do, I know I did something right. There are also the people who think the self published author didn’t work hard on their book, or they don’t know what they were doing… these things are not necessarily true. Most of us who take ourselves seriously do work hard at writing, advertizing, editing (the better we do with editing the cheaper it will be for us), researching, revising, working with a writing pal or finding betas we trust, and many other things. Most of us do work hard.
I would never look down on those who have worked hard to go the traditional route and I hope others do not look down on me for my choice. Both directions are a ‘work hard’ choice; one just works harder in different areas.
One day I might chose to walk down a different road, but I love the view from the road I’m traveling down right now.
Thanks for the good topic,
Sarah
So well said Sarah. So well said. It sounds like you and I are traveling down very similar roads. I couldn’t have put it better. Thank you for taking the time to share. I’m going to tweet this link and invite others to read your comments.