The Hardest Part - Page 2 - Writers Forum

Evelyn · 04-14-2007, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ActivateMyAccount

I've completed roughly 4,500 words of a 98,000 word manuscript, and I've slowed to a grinding halt. I know what direction to go in, and I have the skills and time necessary to get there, but I just can't get myself to write. This isn't writer's block. It's an extreme lack of motivation.

My humble opinion:

The actual writing, the part where you sit for hours making your brain line up words & phrases in some sort of order while moving your fingers up and down, is just plain Hard Work.

Suppose that, instead of writing your Dream Novel, you were building your Dream House. You'd drawn up the plans, found a site, bought the land, got the permits, ordered in all the lumber and materials...

And now you're finding that (after 4,500 swings of the hammer, and with roughly 93,500 hammer-swings left to go) that swinging a hammer can be an awful lot of hard work.

It doesn't mean you don't want to build your dream house any more. It doesn't mean you aren't really a dream-house-builder. It just means that you're a human being, and human beings often find the prospect of hard work to be daunting.

I often don't want to do the work of sitting down and writing. Since I write really just for myself and am free of deadlines, I just do something else for a while, and then eventually I feel like coming back and getting some more text onto the page.

If I were on deadline, I'd probably rework my notes, revise what I'd already written, or start in on whatever out-of-sequence bit of plot I could get my imagination to even slightly latch onto. Often when I do one of those things, I eventually find myself writing away, even though I would initially have sworn that I'd prefer scrubbing the toilet to actually composing any prose.

(OTOH, if I really feel I'd prefer to scrub the toilet than to write, I get up and do that: such a feeling strikes me seldom enough that when it does, it's a pretty good bet that the bathroom could stand a bit of cleaning :)

And, not to go on too much about toilets, but -
Doing some sort of physically active but intellectually undemanding task tends to sort of let my brain wander around aimlessly, and it often comes to rest on what it would really like to do next with the story I'm working on.

Which means that sometimes I can get lucky enough to have a clean bathroom, and to have made some measurable headway with my writing :)

Good luck with your story (and, if needed, with your housework :),

- Evelyn

mammamaia · 04-15-2007, 07:44 PM

Quote:

But mamma, the kid's gotta learn to walk without falling over before taking to the stage!

sure, cran... but writing 'treatments' is not 'walking' in re learning how to write screenplays... it's just telling a story, which may help in learning to develop a plot, but it won't help with learning how to write a script...

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making money is not the point, yet ...

...i don't think my advice alluded to making money, did it?...

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right now, ActivateMyAccount has to know if scripting is his thing ...
if he can translate his plots and outlines into treatments ...
and then sit down and write the script or screenplay ...

...ditto what i said above... writing treatments won't help him learn how to write a script... only learning the abc's of screenwriting format/style, by reading good scripts by the best writers and studying/following the best how-tos will do that...

o

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h ... some studios do buy treatments ... just not for very much ...

not by unknown writers... what studios did you have in mind?... and what 'treatments' only have you ever heard of that were bought?...

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but a good treatment can lead to developing the script with backing ...
and a deadline ...

again, not by unknown newbies, except in cases so rare they might not even have happened... counseling someone to go for the rarest exception is not good advice, imo...

Cran · 04-15-2007, 08:24 PM

Quote:

mammamaia: ...i don't think my advice alluded to making money, did it?...

perhaps I misinterpreted your post?

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mammamaia: no one makes money writing screenplay 'treatments' unless they're hired to do so by a studio/producer... treatments aren't sold... only completed, polished, professional quality screenplays are...

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mammamaia:writing treatments won't help him learn how to write a script... only learning the abc's of screenwriting format/style, by reading good scripts by the best writers and studying/following the best how-tos will do that...

You're right, mamma ...
I was looking at a situation where someone has a plot, an outline, and about 5% of the text ...
to me, that doesn't translate into a script or a screenplay ...
at best, it can be converted into a treatment ...
learning the ABC's is what I meant about learning to walk ...
one doesn't simply sit down one day and think ...
"I think I'll just write my first screenplay" ...
or if so, then disappointment is likely to result ...

as for the rest, you are right again,
I was straying off-topic to challenge the truism:
"mamma knows best" ...

And yes, my experience with the SA and WA Film Corp(s) may well be exceptional ...
and, as far as I know, the ideas have never seen the light of day ...
but I still consider them valid because they got my name inside the door ...

Anyway, it might be prudent for me to do a mea culpa ...
apologise for including "treatments" in my post ...
and put it down to "running off at the fingers" ...

and let ActivateMyAccount go ahead
and "fight through this and finish it [rather] than just let it die here" ...
with united encouragement from us?

mammamaia · 04-16-2007, 08:37 PM

mea culpa and apology duly noted/accepted!

you're a gent and a half, cran... and as for that 'money' thing, i thought you were referring to something else...

love and hugs, m

penforhire · 04-19-2007, 05:29 PM

Whenever you get writer's block, answer my challenge posted just for you:

I want a story about a flying turtle that mutates the human race into giant talking dinos. Oh, and everybody has 2 heads as well, and six toes.

mammamaia · 04-19-2007, 06:39 PM

Once upon a time there was a flying turtle with two heads, and a total of only six toes, on his four feet. This turtle was a magician with incredible powers. One day he decided that the human race just had to go, since they were becoming more and more fond of turtle soup and the 'mock' kind had gone out of favor. So, he thought and thought about what he could do, and finally got an idea.

The next day, all humans awoke to find they were giant dinosaurs. Fortunately (or not!), they could still speak and immediately started complaining about their condition. The turtle, happily being equipped with wings, simply took flight and returned to his human-less and dinosaur-less sanctuary in the Galapagos, leaving the rest of the world to deal with a new food crisis. What were all those overweight, vegetarian dinosaurs going to eat? And how long could they survive, before either they died off, or the planet would be stripped clean? All, that is, but the bio-balanced island where flying turtles lived happily ever after.

penforhire · 04-19-2007, 08:48 PM

The dinosaurs/humans decided they didn't like their condition. So, with their still humanish brains, they designed specially equipped guns that their talons could handle. They used radar technology and sattelites to find the turtle hideout. After arming themselves, they went on board the planes. It was hammer time!

Continue the story!

Mike C · 04-20-2007, 12:39 AM

Please, don't.

Now I understand why you write fanfic.

killned3 · 04-20-2007, 05:25 PM

Haha... I'm gonna state the obvious and say that was pretty funny.

mammamaia · 04-20-2007, 08:30 PM

thanks, mike!... how could anyone dare to fleep up my perfect story!??... if this continues, i'll have to delete it, i guess..

killned3 · 04-20-2007, 08:33 PM

Who uses the word "fleep" anymore? :]

Fallen Angel · 04-21-2007, 10:41 PM

I think when you are so much in love with your novel, the plot the characters its twists and turns that when it comes to actually writing it you get kinda scared that it won't live up to your expectations.

Maybe you just gotta write a shithouse first draft and not be too precious about it. Maybe the reason you don't feel you can write is because you are too attached to it....disengage and just write...maybe it will come back

mammamaia · 04-22-2007, 07:09 PM

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Who uses the word "fleep" anymore? :]

i do, when in 'polite' company, where using what it euphemizes isn't appropriate...

ActivateMyAccount · 04-22-2007, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fallen Angel

I think when you are so much in love with your novel, the plot the characters its twists and turns that when it comes to actually writing it you get kinda scared that it won't live up to your expectations.

Maybe you just gotta write a shithouse first draft and not be too precious about it. Maybe the reason you don't feel you can write is because you are too attached to it....disengage and just write...maybe it will come back

Wow, I actually hadn't considered it, but that's a really good thought. Because I do feel that way, and often.

But I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really:

(I wanna say "get busy living, or get busy dying," but this isn't the greatest movie of all time.)

I either put my expectations on the line and write the damned thing, or sit here forever and wonder if it'll be good enough.

Thanks for the great insight,
Peter

JethroWashington · 05-01-2007, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob

Take up a different hobby, see if it suits you better.

Cheers,
Rob

Thank the Lord I love writting and this isn't my predicament..
In fact mine would be the fact that I am spending all my time reading (reasearcing as i call it. bah my typing is bad today)
rather than actually writting the book that I have set out to write..
O well
Peace..