Sometimes You Just Have To Write
Instead of beating yourself up, why not just write?
Sometimes, I find myself running around in my own thoughts like a whirlwind spinning around and causing chaos. This especially happens if I’m stuck in my writing (also known as writer’s block). If you have similar experiences, by all means, read on.
Gleaned from my light blue waterlogged Mead journal on June 4, 2006
The Stories Within A Story
I just finished watching the movie An Unfinished Life based on the novel of the same name. I can’t help but wish to write as good as that someday. It kind of makes you question your whole ability as a writer when you experience such a work with storytelling and themes as good as that and realize the book is always better than the movie.
I would love to know how great writers develop the story. And not just the story but the stories within the story. For example, you might know the overall plot of your book, but what about the subplots and other scenes that make the main story come alive?
That’s where I feel like I’m stuck. I can’t figure out what to do next. I’m tempted to write things that don’t even belong just to get the ball rolling! And real-life experiences—where do I even begin to work those into my novel?
A Rock and A Hard Place
Sometimes it all feels like a crapshoot. But you know it can’t be because great writers have bestseller after bestseller, on and on, so they must be doing something right that doesn’t pertain to blind luck.
I almost feel like writing random, off-the-cuff stories about nothing just to get my mind off of my work in progress. But I don’t because I know they’ll never be completed. I’m too much of a perfectionist to just write for the sake of writing something different, knowing I’ll never finish it.
It seems like there’s too much to figure out and learn to even try. A good story is hard to find, yes, but even harder to write! Even now, I struggle to find the words to keep writing. Stories like An Unfinished Life make you want to either give up or try harder—the problem is, you can’t do both.
A good story is hard to find, but even harder to write!
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I’ll Write More When…
I wonder if I’ll write more when I [eventually] get married. Will I write less than what I already do? (Ha, ha, very funny. How can I write any less than what I already do?) Will marriage give me the inspiration, the jumpstart I need?
Will I be sitting up in bed with a soft light barely glowing as I write with my paper on my bent knees while my wife sleeps beside me? Will seeing her lie there sleeping peacefully give me the spark I need when I can’t think of how to go on to the next scene or even the next paragraph?
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