Dear Fretting Liz
Oh look, here you are again. Finding it all a bit hard and
wondering if you’ve lost your writing ability and it’s all over. Let me
guess…half way through writing a new book? Yup, thought so.
OK, the great thing is that because I am in fact you, I know how you tick. I understand totally how you’re feeling, and I know the kinds of tricks that usually help you recover your mojo. So how about you stand back from being you for a minute, imagine you are a writing buddy in trouble, and see if you can give them the kind of advice that you would like to hear yourself?
Ah, forget that. I’ll do it for you. Here goes. Ten of my
(and your) best getting-back-in-the-zone tips and tricks…
1. Re-read that blog you wrote years ago about the Seasons of Writing, and remember, sometimes you think that the spring has started and a
few wintry days come along and take you by surprise. That’s nothing to
worry about. It’s nature, and it will pass.
2. Take a few days off. Don’t argue. You can afford to. In
fact, you can’t afford not to. Go on an Artist Date. Your well is depleted and needs restocking. Get out there and
fill it up with some lovely creative energy.
3. Rewrite your writing schedule so that you can see in
black and white (or red and blue and green) that you can afford the time to play out for
a bit and still meet your deadline.
4. Get out in the fresh air. Go for lovely windy coastal walks. Surf, sail, kayak. Blow those cobwebs away.
5. Ask your wife to read what you’ve written, then go out in
your van together and spend the afternoon talking about how you can fix it.
6. Make collages, draw pictures of the plot, flick through magazines for pictures of your characters, do some writing exercises. Y’know, the stuff you advise others to do when they tell you they're stuck.
7. Try to avoid calling your agent and telling her that you
can’t do this writing lark any more. She will remind you that you’ve been here
before and will suggest you see how the next week goes and that if you still
feel this way in a week’s time, you can talk more. So cut out the middle man
and save her a conversation. See how the next week goes, and if you still feel
this way in a week’s time, you can talk to her then.
8. Tidy your office. You know you can’t expect your mind to
feel clear and clean when your office looks like a particularly messy burglar
has ransacked the place.
9. Meditate. Don’t say you haven’t got time. Just do it.
10. Write a blog about how you’re feeling, so that others
can a) hopefully make use of some of your tips and b) possibly contribute some
of their own.
OK, I think that should do it. Now, go have some fun. And
when you’re done, get back to work. Trust me, your characters will be just as
happy as you to have had some time off. When they see how chilled and happy
and raring to go the new you is, they will welcome you back with enthusiasm and open up to you a lot more than they have been doing.
Good luck!
Wise Liz
Wise Liz
(The part of you that knows you know all this anyway, but also
knows you need reminding from time to time.)
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2 comments:
Lots of sensible and supportive advice, Liz. A welcome post. ( I wish that the Wise spoke more loudly to the Fretting, here.)
Great tools there, Liz.
I liked the NaNoWriMo graph thing that holds your feet to the fire, so when I was writing my own book I built the same sort of thing in a spreadsheet. It could calculate the number of words I neeeded to average to be able to finish at the right time while showing the graph of achieved word-count, where I should be and the short-fall.
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