Tag Archive for: exhaustion

The Write Life: Writing Is Struggle

Writing has been extremely difficult this month. I’m sure many writers are feeling the same way I am. It’s been hard to focus and harder not to despair. And as the month wore on—and maybe you started processing your grief and frustration—here come the holidays to serve up more distraction and stress! But the thing is it’s not actually too different from other writing times because, as we all know, writing is struggle.

Writing Is Struggle

Getting your thoughts on the page can be a struggle. Telling a coherent story that entertains others can be a struggle. Writing a character who is likeable but flawed can be a struggle. Creating characters who don’t all sound the same or are propped up by cliches can be a struggle. Building a rich world without info dumping can be a struggle. Writing beautiful sentences with engaging images and varied syntax can be a struggle. Using correct grammar can be a struggle!

Finding time to write can be a struggle. Building motivation and momentum in your writing life can be a struggle. Focusing during your writing sessions can be a struggle. Drafting a work to its end can be a struggle. Keeping your attention on a single work can be a struggle. Dealing with your technology and computers and lost data can be a struggle. Organizing your notes and research can be a struggle. Fact checking your real-world details can be a struggle. Writing to your market or your genre can be a struggle.

Finding an agent can be a struggle. Pitching your story can be a struggle. Designing covers, or even just inspiration mood boards can be a struggle! Marketing yourself can be a struggle. Finding readers can be a struggle. Posting to social media to build a platform can be a struggle.

And that’s just the writing process! Struggle is built into fiction: conflicts between characters, between your characters and their society or environment, between nations, ideologies, and technologies. The obstacles characters face are what stories are about. Even the coziest books contain problems and struggle, though they might be as simple as running out of an ingredient and needing to take a trip to the market, or being worried about how a requited crush will react to a kiss.

Writing is inherently struggle. It’s baked into the finished product, so it’s no wonder we face so much struggle to write our stories. And maybe—just this once—we can view all that struggle as a good thing. We writers know what struggle is. We know what it means and how to deal with it (even if dealing with it includes a good cry or a frustrated scream). We are experienced strugglers and we still manage to write.

So, while you are mired in the struggle, know that writing is struggle and that it’s something you can deal with. I believe in writing, and I believe in you.

 

 

For full access to The Write Life and more about what I’ve done to assist with my creative life, sign up on Patreon for $1 or more per month. You’ll also receive a personalized thank you in a future edition of The Write Life.

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The Write Life: Writing Without a Block

Writer’s block is the bane of writers. And even though some people claim it doesn’t exist, it is totally real. It shows up in the wake of poor mental health, exhaustion, overwhelm, doubt, and a hundred other things that can distract and deplete our creative energies and focus.

If you’ve ever stared at a page and didn’t know how to start…

If you’ve ever been unable to decide what a character should do next (or written six versions of what could come next and still aren’t happy)…

If you’ve ever flipped through prompt after prompt with nothing inspiring you…

If you’ve ever deleted everything you wrote immediately after a writing session…

…then you’ve experienced writer’s block.

There is no one, overarching solution to writer’s block. Each kind of writer’s block needs to be treated in a different way, and each writer will respond differently to the possible solutions.

These days, though, I’ve largely been writing without a block, so perhaps I’ve discovered a shield that prevents writer’s block from moving in and taking over. For me, it’s being a daily writer.

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

This shield didn’t develop overnight, but in the last six years of writing daily, I’ve gained more confidence in my ability to consistently produce. Because I practice writing every day and constantly reconnect with my creativity (and force myself to connect with my creativity), I have confidence that I know how to use those skills at the drop of a hat and that I can use those skills. A lot of the creative doubt around the question can I? has been alleviated because of that daily habit. (Do I still have doubts about success? Absolutely! Boy howdy, do I.)

The daily practice also has given me more experience figuring out what inspires me and what to do with inspiration. When I’m feeling creatively dry, I have a larger, more specialized well from which to draw new energy and more strategies for combining and developing ideas into stories.

I still experience creative blocks—an inability to decide what comes next, feeling lackluster about creation, not knowing where to start—but because I’m forming a chain of days of writing, I’m more likely to try, even if I’m feeling very meh about the creative process as a whole. Also, because I write daily, I usually have multiple projects to consider, so I can spend time away from a blocked project and make progress on something else. Being able to switch tasks means the writer’s block never takes control, and I’m able to work through the problem while it’s small rather than scrambling when it’s overwhelming.

Exhaustion is the one thing being a daily writer can’t cure—and in some cases it can create exhaustion and creative burnout more easily. But I can still take a break by writing less to maintain my habit and let myself rest and refuel. Overall, daily writing has helped my creative process and production, and I experience writer’s block much less frequently than I did when I was writing sporadically.

Is writing daily right for you? It may not be, but if you look through the list of benefits, you may figure out how to develop a writer’s block shield for yourself and be as well-equipped as I am while honoring your own creative process.

 

 

For full access to The Write Life, sign up on Patreon for $1 or more per month. You’ll also receive a personalized thank you in a future edition of The Write Life.

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