Thread: Do you ever get angry at your work?

Today I got a bit angry with a passage I was trying to write. It is an action scene and I have never truly been satisfied with what I have written for it. I tried again today, hit the coffee, then hit the bottle. I then decided to turn my back on it for the day.

I may get to the point where I cut it completely because it is irritating. But I would much prefer to keep it.

Not anymore - I'm retired. Get angry with bad refereeing/umpiring in sports events...

Why not write it and move on then when there's more supporting it, decide if it should stay or go or just be reworked?

Definitely. All the time. Usually it's a sign that I'm missing something major somewhere, and soon after there will be a "lightbulb moment" about what I need to do. Often times I need to cut the scene entirely or move it to a different place. When something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't.

Originally Posted by Offeiriad

Why not write it and move on then when there's more supporting it, decide if it should stay or go or just be reworked?

It has been written for a while and there is a lot supporting it. It is a necessary scene. I am determined to get it right one day. Its not that I have written myself into a corner, it is just that I have my perfect head on today and want to like what I have written.

Originally Posted by starseed

Definitely. All the time. Usually it's a sign that I'm missing something major somewhere, and soon after there will be a "lightbulb moment" about what I need to do. Often times I need to cut the scene entirely or move it to a different place. When something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't.

It feels right, I am just annoyed that my editing is not good enough. The words I need are not coming and the sentences just read like...so boring...

I will jump over it for now and come back to it.

I don't get angry. I just get frustrated, sometimes exasperated. Most common reason: Writer's block, or rather, pseudo-writer's block. I mean, that time when you have a story, you know the idea, you got the plot, but somehow, you can't deliver the words right.

I just work on something else, or, that failing, occupy myself with something that I enjoy (reading, roaming in the woods, listening to my Arch Enemy/Rammstein compilation, watching South Park, etc). Turning my mind from a subject that's starting to be a hassle into something else that's NOT a hassle will often unlock some weird thing in my head that helps me solve whatever problem I'm not thinking about.

In my opinion, life is full of things that one has no control over and that will make us angry; our art, however, is something that we have complete control over.

I mean, if you are under contract to produce writing and you're upset because you can't think of something to write with your deadline drawing closer/contract about to expire/rent due or whatever, it's not really the writing (your art) that you're upset with. I am assuming that's NOT the case here, but you're leaving that detail out so I don't know for sure.

If you were in fact angry because of a deadline or contract, then what you're angry at isn't the work, it's the work environment.

Otherwise, if you're just writing to write--maybe hoping for a sale at some point but not under the gun to produce something RIGHT NOW--then it may help to take a few deep breaths and try to think of what you're really angry at; it's probably NOT your writing but some other thing.

Your art may be the only thing in your life you have complete control over. (I hope that's not true but often it is the case for writers.) The characterization of art as entity (a "Muse") is quite apt, if you think about it; if you treat the Muse gently and with humor, it will reward you. If you're too demanding or emotional, however, you may drive it away.

Anyway, those are just my thoughts and I hope they are of some... I dunno if "help" is the right word, maybe "solace" is what I mean. I'm sure you'll beat the problem because obviously you care about what you're doing a great deal and you're driven to overcome it. Going around angry is not good for you, though, so: Deep breaths!

Originally Posted by Scarlett_156

I just work on something else, or, that failing, occupy myself with something that I enjoy (reading, roaming in the woods, listening to my Arch Enemy/Rammstein compilation, watching South Park, etc). Turning my mind from a subject that's starting to be a hassle into something else that's NOT a hassle will often unlock some weird thing in my head that helps me solve whatever problem I'm not thinking about.

In my opinion, life is full of things that one has no control over and that will make us angry; our art, however, is something that we have complete control over.

I mean, if you are under contract to produce writing and you're upset because you can't think of something to write with your deadline drawing closer/contract about to expire/rent due or whatever, it's not really the writing (your art) that you're upset with. I am assuming that's NOT the case here, but you're leaving that detail out so I don't know for sure.

If you were in fact angry because of a deadline or contract, then what you're angry at isn't the work, it's the work environment.

Otherwise, if you're just writing to write--maybe hoping for a sale at some point but not under the gun to produce something RIGHT NOW--then it may help to take a few deep breaths and try to think of what you're really angry at; it's probably NOT your writing but some other thing.

Your art may be the only thing in your life you have complete control over. (I hope that's not true but often it is the case for writers.) The characterization of art as entity (a "Muse") is quite apt, if you think about it; if you treat the Muse gently and with humor, it will reward you. If you're too demanding or emotional, however, you may drive it away.

Anyway, those are just my thoughts and I hope they are of some... I dunno if "help" is the right word, maybe "solace" is what I mean. I'm sure you'll beat the problem because obviously you care about what you're doing a great deal and you're driven to overcome it. Going around angry is not good for you, though, so: Deep breaths!

Hi. No I am not under a deadline etc. So I think you are right, my art is not making me angry. I am just getting frustrated that its not going as well as it has been so your advice is perfect for me. Take a break, a step back, and then let it come when it wants to. I did this the other day. Was getting frustrated with a section of my story, the words were just not coming. So I downed tools, and lay on my bed listening to music, did some reading and observed another authors writing. Then a bulb came on and I got my notepad and scribbled down an idea, and wrote some prose. An hour later I was at my computer and wrote several paragraphs of what somebody said was very good text, and my frustration had turned into optimism and motivation. Thanks for your post. BTW - your picture is scary.

I haven't gotten angry with it yet, but I sure am frustrated with one section I wrote when I wasn't in the most creative state of mind. It was roughly 4 years ago and until this day it has kept me in something of a writer's block. I'm trying to just get past it for now and later on I want to go back and look at it some more. I'm completely unsatisfied with how it sounds, it doesn't grab me like the rest of my novel does.

Ha ha, I misread this and thought it said 'Do you ever get angry at work?' to which the answer would have been an emphatic. Yes. ALL. THE. TIME. punctuated by slamming my face into the laptop screen. But no, I don't get angry at my writing, it's my release.

If it's not going the way I planned/ I'm not enjoying it I'll take a break and do something else. It's good to have goals with your writing, as with anything, but I never want writing to become the hateful waste of time my rent-paying work has become.

Do you ever get angry at your work?

Never. You can't write angry. You can play guitar angry, but angry writing is not a good thing. Put it to one side, and come back to it when you've calmed down.

Get angry with bad refereeing/umpiring in sports events...

That makes two of us. I can get apoplectic with rage at a dodgy decision by someone who's supposed to be a professional in their work. I'm still fuming at seven minutes of injury time in a football match two years ago, and feel hard done by with a weather-related abandonment ten years ago. Hmph!

Isn't injury time in football an oxymoron?

(there isn't any in rugby...)

Fire your inner editor and just write it for now. Go on to the next scene and come back to this after you have a little distance. It is amazing how different things look after a few days.

When I get angry I take time off. Sometimes walking the dog is enough, or watching a tv show. Something that completely gets your brain off of what you were working on. Othertimes I need a whole week or more to "reset" my brain. Luckily I write as a hobby. If it was my day job this would definitely not be a productive strategy.