Just finished my second 2 hour Saturday writing session. I'm glad to be actually writing. The first session last week was exhilarating. I was energized, inspired, and full of sharp, exciting language. This time was okay, but I really didn't feel as excited. I think it helps to maybe spend the first 10 minutes working myself up into the right energy state. Maybe journal about why I'm doing this novel, what it means, why it's exciting, what I expect to produce. Also, the writing I did in the first session felt new, fresh, and free, whereas what I wrote today was basically something I'd tried to write previously, so it didn't feel as creative. I was also trying to get somewhere with the writing, to make a certain result happen in the scene, and when that is the case, I often struggle to find a path to the goal that seems natural.
In any event, I pushed through the session and managed to write about 550 words. Not bad. A technique that helped me: every time I got to a place where I didn't know what to do, I switched to my notes and wrote (to myself) about what I was doing and where I needed to go. That helped me realize that, even I knew where to go, I had to make various decisions about the fictional situation before I could write them. Was it summer time? What happened the night before that makes my main character so agitated in the opening scene? I spent a few minutes really developing the details of what happened the preceding night, even though most of those details did not make it into the narrative recounting of the events. That enabled me to move back into writing the narrative manuscript. So, the lesson is that moving between these two forms of writing is very helpful in overcoming blocks and stepping back to see the bigger plan.
Also, a broader lesson is: just sit down and work on it. Don't fret, don't listen to expectations. No idea if this will be a great writing day or an average one, or whether it will suck. But that doesn't matter. I am doing this as much to learn how to overcome my blockage and excuses, as to learn how to be a better writer. Both of those absolutely demand that I stop listening to my anxieties about writing. Just ignore them completely. Sit down at the damn computer and write. Keep writing until it comes as easily and naturally as my job. That simple.
In any event, I pushed through the session and managed to write about 550 words. Not bad. A technique that helped me: every time I got to a place where I didn't know what to do, I switched to my notes and wrote (to myself) about what I was doing and where I needed to go. That helped me realize that, even I knew where to go, I had to make various decisions about the fictional situation before I could write them. Was it summer time? What happened the night before that makes my main character so agitated in the opening scene? I spent a few minutes really developing the details of what happened the preceding night, even though most of those details did not make it into the narrative recounting of the events. That enabled me to move back into writing the narrative manuscript. So, the lesson is that moving between these two forms of writing is very helpful in overcoming blocks and stepping back to see the bigger plan.
Also, a broader lesson is: just sit down and work on it. Don't fret, don't listen to expectations. No idea if this will be a great writing day or an average one, or whether it will suck. But that doesn't matter. I am doing this as much to learn how to overcome my blockage and excuses, as to learn how to be a better writer. Both of those absolutely demand that I stop listening to my anxieties about writing. Just ignore them completely. Sit down at the damn computer and write. Keep writing until it comes as easily and naturally as my job. That simple.
