The Not-So-Gentle Art of Self Manipulation

First off, let me just say that after reading Dina's previous post, I had to resist the urge to open this one by wailing about my writer's block...

 Don't try to break the writer's block, Neo.
 Try to realize there is no writer's block.

 Which, of course, there isn't. And I, of course, did not come off the holidays with a scorching case of it. What I did do was take my annual "I'm not going to do it and you can't make me" break.
 This is a whole different thing.

Today I wanted to talk about "know thyself." And since Dina did a perfect job of debunking writer's block, we're all caught up.
What I experienced was, as she put it, one of my issues. I get stubborn and burned-out. Everyone does. If you feel burned-out and resistant to write. You are in good company.

One trick to getting out of it (the funk not the company) is to know your currency. I've posted about currency before. As a parent, its a very big topic for me. Currency is like motivation but more manipulative. I believe when you're trying to motivate yourself, manipulative is the best sort of medicine. It's not the healthiest, if therapists can be believed, but it's very effective.

In parenting and writing, effective trumps healthy every time. We want results, and results come from knowing which buttons to push.

My button looks a lot like reverse psychology. If I tell myself, there's no point, your writing sucks, no one reads your stories anyway. No one loves you, you bad, bad writer. I know I will only sink into a deep depression from which only the very best chocolate can pry me. But if I say, "Maybe you can't do it. Maybe, you should just quit and take up spider breeding. I think spider breeding is your true calling and this writing thing was just a silly fad." I'll be writing before you know it. (and possibly browse some spider catalogs, but that's a different problem)

Reverse psychology works on me, but maybe distraction works for you. Maybe you need a shiny new story idea, or a new setting to write in.. Maybe you like bribes. A brand new pen or laptop might do it. Reassurance? A pat on the back and a comforting hug (which would only make me feel pathetic and spiral deeper into depression.) might be the remedy you need.

The thing is, humans are very predictable creatures. We have patterns within our patterns. And we are very easily conditioned. I think, even more easily trained than fleas. (which take the scientific booby prize of being the most easily conditioned critter around) If we pay a lot of attention to what works and what doesn't, we can come up with a pretty solid formula for success.
It just has to be tailored to our buttons.

Learn your buttons. Map your patterns and not just writing but everything can get a lot easier.
They're hard to see from inside a funk, though. So wait till you're fresh enough to see clearly. Then, get a big picture view, look at past hiccups, and find the repeating cycles.

Write them down. Remember.

That's probably the hardest part. Remembering to think about your patterns when you're neck deep in them. Still, if its on paper somewhere (maybe taped to your forehead) it's hard to deny for long.
Even if what you need to spiral back up again is just time, knowing that can make the waiting more productive. I agree with "writers write". But if your issues have you on "hiatus" you can still be planning how to get writing again. You can be working. You can be productive. If you just aren't writing now, you can still be plotting, editing, blogging...doing.

The point is, do what it takes to get you writing again. Motivate, manipulate, bribe, whatever, but keep in mind that we want results.
No whining...unless whining will make you write. No self abuse...unless that's the ticket to you making words again. Maybe you can't write non-stop forever, but the goal is definitely to write as soon as possible.
And that's my moral. If it doesn't get you writing, STOP IT.
If it does, who am I to judge?

Write on, MacDuff.
~Frances

Why Writers Really are Freaks of Nature

It's true. Just wait.

So, you see this cute little meme popping around every now and then that reads: "If writers are not writing, Then the are thinking about writing." Except more flowy and less like a math theorem. "If the hypotenuse is congruent to the..." whatever. I gave up math at graduation. The point is, it makes us sound like the saddest sacks in the galaxy. We laugh at it. We recognize the truth of it, but we hope most people think it's a big joke.

Well, it's not. We are freaks. Obsessed with our jobs to the point of illness. I have proof. The following story is probably too personal and will no doubt reveal the pathetic state of my life to the universe, but it's most likely way too late to prevent that anyway. You all had your suspicions.
Anyway...

I was up late not writing by talking about writing with my best friend on gmail chat. This is not terribly relevant, except to lay the groundwork. I had been writing, most of the day, and I would, possibly, write more at any second.
She was moaning about a short story she'd started that had decided to turn into a long story on her....again. Okay, she's a writer, and therefore also a freak. This sort of thing really gets us riled up. It's like a halftime at the super bowl when the home team is down by more than a field goal. Or someone's bra pops off.
Except we were fully dressed.

So next she informs me that I need to write a class on how to keep short stories short. (This was almost an insult. I mean, what is so thin about my plots that keeps hers nicely thick and juicy, right?) But the idea somehow lodges in my brain even though I skid nicely over it and change the subject. In my defense, my current WIP is sneaking up on 80 thousand words, thank you very much.

So we keep talking about writing, and then do some writing, punctuated by chatting about what we wrote. (freaks) Then I go to bed.

Somewhere around way-too-early in the morning I interrupt the nice dream I'm having about a dark and mysterious stranger to have this dream about myself teaching a class about how to write a short story and keep it short. I dream it. The stupid class. Complete with synopsis, outline, examples and lesson plan. Instead of the good, perfectly normal, non-therapy-requiring, ordinary dream.
Kill me.

It gets worse. I wake up at six am. SIX...AM. I get up, willingly. Okay, I don't. I crawl to the couch and try to go back to sleep, but the stupid dream is there, hissing at me. Write it down, write it....write it down, you FREAK or you'll lose it!

Its' not a joke. In fact, we might qualify for some sort of government funded...oh. Never mind.

~Frances

Shop Talk

There's a reason people tend to socialize with folks who do the same thing they do. Writers, like other artists, have their collectives, their guilds and groups, their gaggles and congregations. A lot of people will claim that we gather for practical purposes. We are advised to "network" and to build a creative circle for many business reasons.

Actually, this is good advice, but I'm feeling humorous today, and I want to talk about an even more important reason to have a group of authors with whom you can socialize. So let's put aside all those valuable and valid reasons to seek out a writing circle and talk about something else: the safety and well-being of your friends and family.

By this I mean that you need people who "get" you...at least I do. I need someone that will give me the correct responses to my complaints and cheers, my bitching and whining, and who will appreciate any hard-won celebrations. For instance, when I tell my husband that I have to write a one page synopsis of my 300 page book and he says, "shouldn't be too hard" or "that sounds like fun," I need to be able to NOT beat him to death with our toaster. Having someone who I know will say, "ah shit," and then throw chocolate at me goes a long way toward keeping HIS forehead toaster free.

You get what I'm saying, I'm sure. But just for fun, here are a few more.

Writer: I think I may be stuck on this book. I haven't written in three days.
Well-meaning family member: You should take a break. Take some time off and give it a rest.
Writing Buddy: Oh, is the poor author feeling lazy today? Books don't write themselves, you weenie, get back to work.

Writer: I'm thinking of making the villain a robot monkey.
Mom: I never get tired of those.
Writing Buddy: Another monkey? Why not, right? I mean, you wouldn't want to actually put something original in this one.

Writer: I just got a partial request from an agent.
Family Member: When they make the movie, can you get me a part in it?
Author friend: Here, have this big ol' glass of tequila.

Your author friends will mock you when necessary, encourage you when it's absolutely mandatory, and understand your insane babbling about plot arcs and motivation without needing an interpreter.

Just remember that your family is trying their best, and that you probably don't get the responses to their comments right either. Because I've seen the toaster look in his eyes too, and I can only hope he has someone he can tell about lures and flies and the difference between hatchery raised and wild salmon who will give him the right reaction. My forehead hurts just thinking about it.

Play safe. :)
Frances

Shouldn't You Be Writing?

by Seleste deLaney

I have this author friend. She's seen a bit of success and has picked up an uber-fan. Not quite Annie Wilkes (Misery), but an uber-fan nonetheless. This fan keeps poking at my friend about the next book. At first I shrugged it off because it looked like it had only happened a couple times, but lately it's happening more often. A couple weeks ago, she made the "mistake" of posting about something on her social media that *gasp* wasn't writing. Uber-fan basically told her to get back to work.

Um... excuse me?

First, no one works 24/7. No one. I'm a mom, and even I get a couple hours away from that job every night to sleep. Everyone needs sleep, food, exercise, and a bevy of other things that aren't work. As much as writers joke about how we never stop writing (not entirely a joke, but I'll get to this in a bit), we don't spend all day every day at our computers tapping out stories. It is a job that most of us spend more than the normal 40 hours a week at, but it is a job.

Second, an author's job involves a lot more than just writing. If all we had to do was type out stories, we could (most of us) churn out 6-12 books a year, no problem. Most of them would be crap, but we could. You see, we also have to make time for editing, which can take as much time as writing. We also have to make time for querying/submissions/paperwork/etc--all the businessy parts of dealing with publishers. We also are supposed to be active in promoting our work. That means blogging and book tours and social media. Unless an author is making a solid six-figure plus income, they're probably doing most of that solo, which is more work. And none of this even takes research into account. Authors do the job because we love the job, but there's more to it than just writing the story, and all of it takes time.

Third, (and I am a classic case of this) if all a person does is work, they will burn out. That well of stories in their head? It will dry up because everything will sound like a crappy idea. They won't be able to write because the idea of sitting in front of the keyboard and creating a world out of nothing is exhausting. It's ceased to be a joy and it's become drudgery. At that point, the author that you love? They're not only going to not be working on the next book in the series you're anxiously awaiting; they're not going to be working on anything. Maybe ever, but certainly not for a while. Everyone needs to recharge sometimes, and writing can be incredibly emotionally and mentally taxing.

Lastly, that bit about how writers are always writing? It's both true and false. It's false because of all the things I've mentioned above. It's true because when we listen to music, we often find inspiration. When we see a movie, watch TV, or read someone else's books, we're learning new story-telling paths. When we go on vacations, we're finding new and exotic places to authentically include in our work. When we spend time with our children, pets, family, friends...we're having actual interpersonal connections that we can bring back to our work and make it more alive.

Writers are all readers. We know the frustration of wanting the next book now. As often as not, we wish we could write faster so we could get more stories to our fans, because we appreciate you and your excitement. But we also know the reality that no matter how fast we write, some things are out of our control (release dates included).

We're all on the same side here, believe it or not.