Good morning, all!
I’m excited to share a resource with you, which I just found. Cian Traynor on Memo’d explores the most painful lessons in creative writing. Here is a sample:
There will be times when your mind goes blank, when writing is the last thing you want to do. But your pet project will still be there, looking at you with puppy dog eyes, expecting to be fed and exercised. If it feels like it won’t leave you alone, that is a great sign.
Beware the sunk cost fallacy. Even when you’ve nurtured a novel for years, there will inevitably be a point where you realize that it’s just not working out. This happens to even the greatest of talents. The key is to know when to step away – and that requires being honest.
Set a cutoff point. I’ve been warned by several accomplished writers not to spend more than a year on a first draft. I have repeatedly ignored that advice – telling myself, “But this is different! I can make it work!” – only to wish I’d taken their advice sooner.
Blank Mind
I really resonate with this first point he makes, because lately I have been experiencing a lot of blank page syndrome. I’m about 80 pages into my work-in-progress historical novel right now; haven’t been working consistently on it over the last couple of months due to my health.
Now I’m trying to get back into the game, and finding it difficult knowing what to write. I consulted my outline, but still had trouble finessing the details of the next scene. Perhaps I should skip to later scene and come back to it. Another thought I had, is that I need to lie down and daydream what happens next. That often helps me figure blank page syndrome out.
If you have more tips on suffering from Blank Mind/Blank Page, I’d love to hear them!
Sunk Cost
This point he made was like an arrow twanging into me. I have a novel I’ve had in a drawer for some time, that I’m not sure if it’s going to go anywhere. I spent too long writing the rough draft, which has made revision more difficult. This leads me to the last point he makes…
Cutoff Point
One thing I’ve been realizing, especially with last year’s NaNoWriMo and this year’s Camp NaNoWriMo participation, is that having a deadline truly helps! At least, for me. I’ve been writing without deadlines for years, drafting and drafting, cringing way from revision. But how is that going to help me ever finish and publish? It’s not. Nor does it feel good and inspire me to write. So it’s unhelpful – time to get rid of this bad habit!
Because I successfully completed my word count deadline in Camp NaNoWriMo and pushed myself, it made me realize deadlines are good for me. I’m excited to say, my goal is to complete the rough draft of my current novel by my birthday in mid/early-August. It’s coming up soon, so that motivates me to write more pages per day!
Let me know what you thought of the quote above, and my commentary. If you want more resources, Cian Traynor has a whole more of them here. Also, the link to his original, complete article on the painful lessons in creative writing, is here.
Until next time,
Chaitanya
Typing Madly 