Thread: Total Rubbish

Ever have one of those days when you've got the basic outline of what you want to write in your head, and you can type up the outline, but when it comes to actually writing the scene, just getting a word onto the screen/paper is a struggle and every word you manage to squeeze out is total rubbish anyway, and you know it?

Well, I am definitely having one of those days. I can't seem to write a satisfactory sentence to save my life. If you've had one of these days, could you please let me know how you get past it? I rarely get this much free time to write and I'm ready to put my head through a wall in frustration. All this time and nothing to show for it!

TIA!

I write unsatisfactory sentences. And then I keep going. Eventually they become tolerable. A few paragraphs later my optimism returns. Later I go back and rewrite the crap. )

I've had months of staring at a blank page, wondering if my muse will ever come back or if I've lost it, altogether. Sadly, inspiration doesn't always work on our time schedule. Hang in there.

By the by, there are plenty of satisfactory sentences in your post, so... Perhaps you're just over-thinking it? Relax. Don't stress. Go for a walk, clear your mind, and then try again.

I find that when I can't write, I plot. I like to do scifi writing myself, and that involves a good bit of background work to even scratch the surface of a realistic story. So if you can't get the words to flow, get the ideas to flow instead. I find that once you have the movement behind the story going, the stories will start demanding to be written.

Just write what you can.. And keep writing. Later on you can go back and fix all those rubbish sentences. Most likely, you'll have a better perspective of where you want to go by then and how you want things to sound. Think of it like walking a long distance. If you try to leap the whole thing in a single step, you'll just end up making yourself more and more frustrated. Instead, take it one step and a time, and little by little you'll begin to find your pace, your voice, and your rhythm.

The rubbish sentences are there for a reason, they are the rubber you peel off your tires at the starting line. Burn rubber, baby!

Forget about your story or plot for a little while. Start with a character. Throw everything else out the window and just write about one character. Describe his appearance, his habits, his life, the kind of day he's having, and fill in the blank space around that character. It's not that hard and before too long you should have a couple thousand words of semi-decent, if likely boring, prose to show for it.

Failing that, go off and read a book and listen to some music. Get a snack. Check your email or Facebook or what have you. Reboot your mind. Obsessing makes nothing better, and it makes a lot of things seem far worse than they really are.

Hi

It is definitely frustrating and annoying too when you are caught up with such predicament.

My thoughts; even though you mentioned you 'rarely get this much free time', I think you should go for a swim, cycling, run or anything that could 'reset' your mind (that's what I have done previously). I have learned to write more productively with just one hour compared with having half-a-day but with nothing in my mind.

Thank you all for your great advice and encouragement! I only wish I'd come here sooner. I wasted nearly an entire day trying to force something that just wasn't happening. I definitely needed to just take a step back, take a deep breath, and relax. I think I was just putting too much pressure on myself to "be productive" with this rare allotment of time. Oh well. Lesson learned. Thanks again. Your words really eased my mind.

Originally Posted by heartmama

Ever have one of those days when you've got the basic outline of what you want to write in your head, and you can type up the outline, but when it comes to actually writing the scene, just getting a word onto the screen/paper is a struggle and every word you manage to squeeze out is total rubbish anyway, and you know it?

I definitely agree with you. That happens a lot with me. I actually have a lot of Word files stuck in my PC with just a couple of sentences on, as I can't seem to pull off the the story. I keep 'em in case my brains does a turnaround and gets inspired again, though I feel that it's unlikely, at least in the foreseeable future.

I have few days I can totally devote to writing. I shove through. And it may be that the first three pages are only going to be so-so and need reworking, but the fourth and fifth are worth the time it took me to get there.
Edited to say, and when it does kick in, keep on it, dishes be damned.

I think it is having the time. I often find if I have free time for writing I drift back here to see if there are any new posts, make another cup of tea, anything but getting stuck in. On the other hand if I am working on my netbook on the train suddenly my station is coming up and I am rushing, trying to get all the ideas filling my head down before I have to switch off.

Originally Posted by Olly Buckle

I think it is having the time. I often find if I have free time for writing I drift back here to see if there are any new posts, make another cup of tea, anything but getting stuck in. On the other hand if I am working on my netbook on the train suddenly my station is coming up and I am rushing, trying to get all the ideas filling my head down before I have to switch off.

I admire your single-mindedness. If I was on a train, my eye and my mind would be taken by the view outside the window, and I'd be off in lalaland nearly every inch of the way.

Originally Posted by The Backward OX

I admire your single-mindedness. If I was on a train, my eye and my mind would be taken by the view outside the window, and I'd be off in lalaland nearly every inch of the way.

Some of us don't need a distraction to go off into lalaland.

Perhaps you're forcing it too much and you need to clear your head, take a break and not psyche yourself out because of the fear of wasting this time you found. Once you're afraid you can't do something it becomes self perpetuating. Don't ask yourself why you can't write sentences, remind yourself that you can. Don't take each failure as evidence of anything, just remember you can do this.

I keep it short. When I am having trouble writing coherent sentences I keep my sentences as simple as possible knowing that there is going to be an edit, a reedit and then another reedit. And that is if I am lucky.First time through just remember it is a draft. Plant the grass seed first. Manicure the lawn later.