Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Working through the writing doldrums

Lately it has been hard to get to work on my writing. Some of that is a matter of it being summer and feeling lazy. Some has been that sense of depression all writers get from time to time, that no one really cares about their work and it isn't going to sell anyway, or if it does find a publisher, no one will buy it, so why bother... and so on.

I'm pretty sure everyone reading this has felt this way from time to time. Oddly enough knowing that almost everyone goes through the same feelings doesn't really help that much. In most cases it is an irrational reaction and by definition that makes it hard to get rid of. But we have to get rid of it as soon as possible.

We can't let the doldrums bog us down and keep us from writing. If you need a break, take one, but remember it is just that, a break, and not a matter of quitting writing. 

I will get this latest WIP finished and sent off to my editor, and I will put together an outline for a new project for NaNoWriMo before the end of October. These are my goals for the next six weeks.

It will be done, one way or another.

What do other people do to drive themselves back to writing?

7 comments:

Maureen said...

good morning! I can relate, as I feel most writers can. Sometimes I just make myself sit down and write something- sometimes a flash fiction helps to get the writing muses flowing.
Maureen

Emma Leigh said...

I can totally relate to feeling down about my writing. I tend to just try to write a short story or even a new blog to get through it.

Jill James said...

I have to set a deadline, and there have to be consequences for not meeting it. I DVR a lot of programs so my reward for being a good little writer is watching a program. I only let them sit on the DVR so long too. If my butt is still not in gear I pick a date that stuff starts getting deleted.

Janet said...

One thing that has helped lately has been my husband insisting that we spend an hour every evening doing something other than watching TV. This got me to finish revising a WIP so that it was ready to send a publishing house I was targeting. So avoiding the TV is definitely part of the solution.

Mona Risk said...

Janet, I wernt through that all summder. Too many guests visiting or too many days away don't exactly help the writing. For the first time in four months I finally wrote a chapter today.

Josie said...

Janet,
I've heard that one of the best ways to get back to writing is to do something else---be it reading a book, watching a movie, or simply taking a walk.
Works for me! :)

Terry Spear said...

Edit older works, play around with something new, take a break, create a deadline. Brainstorm.

Self publish!!!