Good news! I have been writing a lot since I last posted. It turns out that I needed to read more. I haven't had much time to do that lately so when I finally gave it the chance, since my writing wasn't going so well, I was immediately inspired to write more. I couldn't help but think to myself that if the author could do it then so could I. There has to be millions of people who have written books and I want to one of them so I have to get my butt into gear and keep going. Though I could say that I have plenty of time in my future to write, what is the point in delaying?
I have come to the conclusion that I need to write the entire first draft before I can go back and edit. Every time I sit down to try to fix things I've done I can only think about the things still to come and how excited I am for that. Therefore I am going to do what feels good in the moment and that is to continue writing my first draft.
The only thing I hope for is not losing my momentum. I am the type of person to work really hard at something for an intensely short period of time before I move on but I can't have this happen to me every week so I need to find a balance that will let me stay focused in the long run. I'm going to try setting goals like finishing the second part of my story before Christmas. Then the third part of my story before next summer. Then next summer I will do an overhaul and really edit my story. That's my vague plan right now but a million things could happen before then and I could be behind schedule or even ahead of schedule.
During my writing I hit a really cool writing milestone and took a picture so I could share it.
I will keep writing and reading and I hope to be able to do as well next week as I have done this week.
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Writer's block can be a funny thing because no other profession can claim to have a "block" and therefore cannot perform their job. But sometimes it feels as if all the creativity has been tapped out and the words aren't flowing. Many people say to just keep writing. This is one hundred percent true, you have to push through it. But sometimes that just doesn't seem to be enough.
One of the first things I consider when I get into one of these slumps is whether it is my writing that I am having trouble with, or my excitement for my story. Oftentimes it is my story that is the culprit. I'll find that I will have no trouble writing a short story or an essay for school. I actually tend to find those more fun when I am having writer's block because I do need an outlet for my writing or else it just builds up inside me. These things feel fresh and new which revives my excitement for writing.
Oftentimes I will give myself time and space to take a break from my story so that way when I come back to it I can give it all my energy and not feel resentful towards giving my time up for writing. Of course, if I were ever to be published this would not be a viable option. There would be deadlines to be met. Therefore I have come up with some more ideas for future me to turn to. These are things that work for me or I have heard other people mention.
Try to take a different spin on your story. I am not saying that you should change the story, but concentrate on a different aspect of it. Instead of being so concerned about making the love interest as awesome as possible, make a really funny subplot or develop a really cool setting. You could concentrate on establishing a different theme into your story and weave it into dialogue and action.
There is nothing more inspiring and motivating than to see other people's creativity. This includes books, movies, pictures, music, anything you can think of. I have recently joined Pinterest and I find looking up pictures that fit my story to be very exciting. I probably spend more time doing than that actual writing. That's an exaggeration but I do spend more time on it than I probably should. But having a visual to go along with what is going on inside your head is really cool to piece together.
Of course, there is the option of skipping ahead in the story to a scene that you are really interested in writing. Then, once that is done, you can return to where you picked off before and see if you are getting anywhere. If you do this a couple times and you find where you previously left off to be dull and uninspiring, whatever you do end up writing for it will probably end up being dull and uninspiring for the reader to read as well. So find a way to add tension, or mood, or humour. Or anything else to liven it up. Have a random, sassy person come into play who turns the entire plan into a mess. Just do something. Usually if its boring for you, its boring to read.
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