Gundampilotspaz

I believe there is too much distraction when I write on a computer, I'll try writing on paper alone in my room and see if my words flow more clearly.

fairygirlfairies

Writing on paper is good when you are a poet, song writer, and/or brainstorming for ideas. Also when you are researching and jotting down bits of information. But for the big writing (i.e. a novel or play) computer wins hands down.

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"Know thyself."

Talia_Brie

Having discipline about your writing and forcing yourself to write are two different things I suppose.

Having discipline means setting aside time when you are in front of the computer, putting something down or reviewing or whatever, and not stopping until you've completed a certain amount of work.

Forcing yourself is writing whether you've got anything to say or not.

Which is what I just did.

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TheWritingMonkey

Just out of curiosity Kimberly, where exactly are you published? Because all I see on your web site are 2 books that were "self-published" through Trafford. Obviously, as I'm sure you're aware, self-publishing is really not the same as "being published."

So I'm curious what you've published with a conventional publisher, thanks.

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I'm just a Writing Monkey, with evil on my mind.

Talia_Brie

OT: That sounds like a dig.

Let's not start a flame war here. I don't think that is the point of this forum.

Monkey, that reply added nothing to this argument, and a moderator should consider deleting it.

This message adds nothing either, other than a reminder to stay on the topic please.

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sully474

You can force yourself to write, but you can't force ideas out of yourself. They are two different things. To be a good writer, you must make sure that you have a fairly consistent schedule in that you write a lot and very occasionally. However, you have to take a break if you are really straining for ideas. If you are in desperate need of something for the next chapter of a book, but nothing is coming to you, don't just sit down and begin to write, take a walk and observe things critiaclly, or read a book or write a short story about something different, or write an unusually long run-on sentence that tells people what to do when they are writing.

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"Sure there have been injuries and deaths in boxing - but none of them serious." - Alan Minter, Boxer
"I get to go to lots of overseas places, like Canada." - Britney Spears, Pop Singer

Capulet

See this is where the make or break is. Writing as a job requires you to "show up for work." Setting aside time when you're in front of the computer, etc, is great, but you have to force yourself to do it on those days when you just don't want to work.

Just like those people that force themselves to get up at 6am and go to their job to drive/flip burgers/fight terrorism (noun killing as I like to call it), you have to force yourself to go to work as a writer as well. Maybe you caaaaaaaaaaan't write that day. You're just a blank for ideas. Fine then, edit. Maybe you'll shake something loose by reviewing and bettering your previous work.

Regardless, you have to put in the time. Hobbies are great, but jobs put food on the table daily.

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

-Shawn

NoWorries

I used to "Write when the urge hit me" or "when I felt like it", and you know what? I never wrote, and I never got any better.

Then I heard a metaphore that will stay with me forever, the original wording wasn't that great and I am forever attempting to turn it into a worthwhile statement:

Writing is like lifting weights, if you only excersice when you feel like it, you'll never get stronger. If you write only on a whim, you'll never improve.

You have to force yourself to write if you want to be a good writer.

Cheers,

NoWorries

I really should read page two before I post! Discipline is a much better word that force, I just couldn't think of it. That's what I was trying to say too, you have to be disciplined to write something everyday or every week.

"More people have talent than discipline. That's why discipline pays better."
-Mike Price

"Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There's plenty of movement, but you never know if it's going to be forward, backwards, or sideways."
-H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

"We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master"
-Ernest Hemingway

TheWritingMonkey

Firstly, it is not a "dig." If someone goes to lengths to describe themselves as a "paid published author," then it is only right to ask where exactly they have been "paid and published." Self-publishing is not being paid & published by any stretch of the imagination, so the question still stands.

And a writer advocating censorship in a writing forum? That's either horribly ironic or terribly sad, I can't decide which.

My question is perfectly valid, and I would appreciate an answer. If you're going to have the chutzpah to bill yourself as a "paid published author" then certainly you don't mind telling us where exactly you've been published right?

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I'm just a Writing Monkey, with evil on my mind.

Bad Craziness

What I find interesting is how many people here seem to measure good writing by monetary value or standards of popularity. Writing is as subjective as any other medium. To declare something is good or bad because it is sold somewhere or you are commishioned(sp?) to write it is a theory I cannot agree with. Because something is publishable to one niche audience does not make the work better than a piece that is not as suitable to a popular audience. It simply makes it different. Variety is the spice of life...

Maybe I view writing as a little more artsy fartsy than other people. But the internet is one medium that allows extremely talented writers absolute control over what they can write. I find this amazing. The only problem I need to overcome now is self-censorship. I'm a bastard to myself.

maniclemur

I don't believe there is "one true way" of writing, or that all true authors force themselves to write. You go with what works for you personally; don't worry about doing what you think a proper writer should do, because there's no such thing

Personally, I can force yourself to go and sit at a desk or to fire up my laptop, but after that I have to go where the writing takes me. If you force your writing, it's in danger of sounding forced.

Of course, practice is vital, as is perseverance. I won't bother you with the inspiration/perspiration cliche; suffice to say, writing isn't some vague mystic process. But it should, above all, be something you enjoy.

(As for the worth of published authors over non-published - it's a ridiculous argument. There are many good published authors, and many bad published authors. The same applies to the non-published. Talent plays a part, true - but IMHO it's a more matter of what breaks you get.)

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Emma LB

I agree that not all work that gets published is better than some stuff that doesn't, that would be rediculous. I think the point being made here though is that if you do want to improve your writing so that you can get your stuff published you must practise and sometimes force yourself to write.

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"You should be the change that you want to see in the world." ~ Mahatma Gandhi
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Talia_Brie

And that's not a dig

Me asking you to stay on topic in a forum is not censorship, it's the rules of the community.

If you want to question the validity of the advice you're receiving, feel free to do so. If you want to try to cut someone down a bit because you think they shouldn't be calling themselves something, you can do that too. But there's a place for it, and it's not on someone else's thread.

If you want to continue this discussion, let's do it by PM, because now things are getting a little derailed.

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gabriella

Man, you all should be thankful that you're writing, lol. I'm stuck doing world-building and chapter summaries and all sorts of research on castles, wars, and the middle ages. I can't WAIT when I get to force myself to write!

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You write by sitting down and writing - Bernard Malamud.