DawnMorningStar

I love writing. I never think of it as "forcing" myself when I sit down to create. However, there have been times in the middle of a story when I have gotten a bit of writer's block--not even necessarily because I'm not sure what to write, but because in ANY novel-length story there are filler paragraphs or chapters. I don't mean boring passages that have no importance, but ones that help to advance the story. I get bored with those sometimes and find myself wanting to skip on to the next part. But the way I write, I force myself to attempt it from beginning to end instead of skipping around. So in that way, I'm "forcing" myself to write the less exciting parts.

Does that make any sense?

Kermie04

I don't think that you should force yourself to write. If you do not have anything to add to a piece I think you should put it down until you have something to add. Forcing writing, I have found only adds to my frustration because what I write is not really what I wanted to add. However, I do think that you should write something everyday, even if it is not anything to do with your current piece.

__________________
Love,
Kermie04

regina_verbae

I never force myself to write. Instead, I force myself to do things that make me feel like writing, such as reading a good book or watching a great movie. Or posting on a forum filled with brilliant minds.

__________________
~Mary~Frances~

Capulet

I find dialogue hard to write. When possible, I avoid it. Lately, I've been forcing myself to write more dialogue, so that I may practice and become more accomplished at it. By doing so, I will improve the overall quality of my dialogue in specific, and my writing in general because it'll become more diverse.

Nobody here was born with the knowledge and ability to be a police officer, a painter, a physicist, or a writer. Anyone who wishes to pursue one of these careers has followed a path that saw them acquire specific knowledge, skills, and physical attributes to attain their desired position.

People force themselves to go to the gym when they're not feeling up to it, they stay up those extra hours studying to learn a little more, and as writers, you force yourself to write those extra pages, or on those days when you don't want to write at all.

There are several key differences between hobbyists and professionals in the writing field. One, of course, is that professionals get paid. Another is that a professional writer will not only train themselves to be accomplished in their writing ability, but to also be prolific on command.

"Hey Capulet, give me 500 words on the new dam going up outside of town."

"Hey Capulet, we need a manual outlining our product specifications for the meeting tomorrow."

"Hey Capulet, we want you to write the novel version of our movie coming out in September; we want it ready for the premier."

For some, writing is work. They parlay their abilities into something that puts food on the table.

And food needs to go on the table everyday.[/i]

__________________
It's not opression when you are protecting the voice of the majority.

-Shawn

Joseph

I don't force myself to write, but I do force myself to sit down in front of the computer and open up Microsoft Word.

If you can get that far without procastinating, your probably one step ahead of most people.

It's also a good idea to close your door and put a "Do Not Disturb" sign on it as well. If you have the support of your family, interruptions shouldn't be a problem. Luckily, I have a very understanding wife.

__________________
Joseph Shimerdla
http://www.shimerdla.com

Bad Craziness

I don't completely agree with what you're saying here. It's a little too snooty for me. For you to say that someone is not "writing" because they do not fit into what your idea of "writing" may be is extremely narrow-minded. Writing is all about expression. Whether the writer is aware of all or none of the supposed technical skills is of no importance. Writing, like any other form of art, is created through the reading, not the production. Because one author may use different techniques from another (writing everyday for example) does not mean their work will be any better.

Dragonscales

I think what kimberly means bad craziness, is that artistically you may be able to write something, but it may not be the best you could write from a technical point of view (grammer, punctuation, etc, etc).

I whole-heartedly agree with her too, practice makes perfect, and hell, be honest with yourself, there are times when you need to practice something and cannot be bothered but "urge" yourself to get up and do it. I agree that yes, it may not turn out the best you could write if your heart isn't in it, but you can always go back and fix it later.
As I said above, talent starts out raw and, with practice, refines itself.

__________________
To live in a world of dreams is to bring about a reality of nightmares. This world is not made for the eyes of the innocent nor for the ambitions of the wicked and happiness is far and few between. Be wary of joy for sorrow is but a footstep away...

Capulet

"Writing, like any other form of art, is created through the reading, not the production."

How silly of a notion. If I wrote an article and nobody ever read it, I will still have written the article. This is too akin to "if a tree falls in the forest, and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" and I refuse to get drawn into that. :p

Bad Craziness, you are one hundred percent correct when you say that anyone who commits words to paper is a writer, just like the kids in kindergarden with their fingerpaints are painters. Hell, let's tie a racquet to the hand of a parapalegic and call them a tennis player.

But if you want to be a GOOD writer, if you want to be a GOOD painter, you learn your craft. You work at your craft, you push it beyond your current limitations. That involves a lot of reading, and a lot of doing. There will be days that you don't want to "do", and on those days you have to push yourself. You have to be prolific when you feel like it, you have to write when the will isn't there. These are things you can train yourself to do.

Amateur writers can leisurely stroll about and puke up their heart on paper whenever the urge hits them. I'm not against this, as I've found writing to be very cathartic in the past. But if you want to be PAID for your writing, and paid CONSISTENTLY, then you must write WELL, and you must write CONSISTENTLY. That's not going to happen leaving your skills up to fate, and to the whim of casual writing.

Everyone has their own writing style, and it can be submersed with great difficulty if you so choose. Learning to write is not an excercise in quieting your own voice, but learning the skills required to let your voice blossom, and flower into a better version of your seedling skills.

People can choose to dabble, to dally, to fingerpaint, for there is great joy to be found in this. But beyond that there is another level of dedication that will see you progress to greater painting accomplishments, and greater writing accomplishments. And beyond that still is another realm, where you not only write well, but you write often and you write for an audience willing to pay you for your work. They're hungry for quality, and they're hungry for quantity. Learn to write well, learn to write often (even when you don't feel like it), and that audience will be yours.

Capulet

__________________
It's not opression when you are protecting the voice of the majority.

-Shawn

Bad Craziness

I find it strange that you find that notion to be silly. Judging from the rest of your post you are an intelligent person. Perhaps I wasn't clear in getting my message across (which is a little ironic in itself). What I was trying to say is that writing, or any other artform, is an act of communication. However, communication is imperfect. We can never be wholly sure that the message we intended to communicate as writers is the one that will be read in the text by readers. All I'm saying is that people generate their own readings based on a wide variety of things.

And as a writer, what good is an article if no one ever reads it?

Personally, my sole goal as a writer is to find an audience that embraces my work - for whatever reason they may have.

rashadow

Why is everbody so scared to use the word "force" in connection with writing. I force myself to write and so do many other writers. The joy is not in the dull task of writing, the joy is in the creation part.

I will say it, I hate writing; the actual pen to page or typing aspect. If I had the ability to spill my thoughts on page without ever touching a notebook or a keyboard I would be in Heaven.

But, unfortunately I can't do that, and so I force myself to write. And I don't even do a spectacular job of that.

However much I hate to do it, I realize it's a necessity. If you just wait for the "moment" you may never finish and you may never grow. If you are a writer and you wanna be paid and you want a good sized body of work then you will write consistently, preferably everyday.

Do not be scared to force yourself if you must. Even if you write a thousand boring pages, I bet you'll get at least a million new ideas or learn a million new things about yourself and your writing. And in the end it would have been all worth it.

Just think, it's possible that after you reach your thousandth boring page you should by then have the ability to not write like that. Can you imagine being able to write almost your best at a moment's notice?

__________________
I think...therefore...

http://www.myspace.com/silenciobarnes

stillness

I agree that it take perserverance. I personally get more joy out of think of ideas, working out situations, and coming up with answers my story begs. I think that is my stronger point. Writing it down is a little harder for me. My ideas flow, but my words seem to require a little more effort. I've seen some people who can just sit down and write in one take, some very nice work. Mine takes a lot of revision. But I would imagine this is a blessing because it fosters different styles, techniques, and results.

Its all supposed to be fun anyway, right?

__________________
We are never more one with god than when we love.

Kimberly Bird

Bad Craziness, sorry if my words offend you. But as a paid published author I do know that it takes serious commitment and dedication. Editing, revising, changing whole plots, more action, less action here, more dialogue, less dialogue, and a whole hell of a lot of frustration in the process.

And if you think that is snooty too, well I can't help that. It's the facts.

Kimberly

stillness

snooty, hahaha....that word makes me laugh :O)

__________________
We are never more one with god than when we love.

Capulet

I'm forcing myself to write this post, ha!

__________________
It's not opression when you are protecting the voice of the majority.

-Shawn

fairygirlfairies

Writing should be fun. Sometimes, yes, you don't want to write but have to (i.e. reports). How do you view your writing is it your vocation? Hobby?
If its your vocation then you should schedule your writing time.
Hobby write when you want to.


-Faith

__________________
"Know thyself."