Somehow, I ended up forgetting my post for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group again. Ugh. (But at least it wasn’t twice in a row!)
What’s bugging me right now as a writer (and yes, I realize it’s pointless to go into it when I’m a day late, but…I’m doing so anyway) is that it seems like I’m more interested in dreaming up scenarios than I am in writing out the stories. I’m still working on the same project I was this time last month, and have gotten very little accomplished on it in the past month. (Though in my own defense, I did have to spend half the month working on class projects, to the exclusion of all else.) Meanwhile, I’ve come up with a bunch of other plots I’d like to explore. (One of them just hit me today, in fact.)
I don’t know if it’s just the way my brain’s wired or what, but it’s starting to get frustrating. The feeling that I can’t ever finish anything because I get tired of it and want to work on something else. (Even though I do actually finish a lot of first drafts. But only first drafts.) Which is one thing when I get snatched away by different characters (it’s always the characters that compel me into whatever I’m writing, not the story), but when it’s just the idea of putting the characters in a different situation…it starts to feel very counter-productive.
Though I guess my writing is always counter-productive, since it’s taking away time I could spend on actually productive activities like cleaning my horrific house.
I get stuck in the scenario cycle sometimes too. It’s fun.
‘ Juneta @ Writer’s Gambit
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Maybe start combining some of those ideas. Then they will be new and fresh again!
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First, remember that “a tidy house is a sign of a mis-spent life.” Second, I think all of us get lured a lot by all the new ideas that pour in. This is where the part of writing that is work comes in, for me: I have to discipline myself to do the editing. With practice, it gets easier and more fun, but I don’t think it will ever be as much fun to take a rough draft and turn it into an actual novel, as it is to start playing with a new idea.
Grad school makes it hard to want to work hard at the extras. Right now, maybe you need to focus on playing with ideas, writing drafts, and making writing fun while you get practice making stories that work, and not worry about finishing or polishing stuff. I know I did nothing but play at writing while I was in grad school.
—Rebecca
My IWSG Post
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