Thread: Losing Steam

Originally Posted by JosephB

If it works for you -- great, but that's not a one-size-fits-all solution. Some people do need ideas to write -- and I'm one of them. For me, the process of writing has to be about a flow ideas -- what this character says or does next, or how something is described etc. They may not be BIG ideas, but they are ideas nonetheless. In my experience, churning out random writing makes things worse and is a huge waste of time.

Joe, with respect, that’s merely semantics. Starting off with a few words about a piece of lint on the carpet – for example, “At precisely 9.37 a.m. this morning my eye fell on a piece of lint, of an off-white hue, on the drawing room carpet not six inches from where Jeeves had yesterday booted Madam’s Pekingese up the ass…” - was an exercise in ideas-generating, not random writing.

Heh. I get it now. It’s an exercise in ideas-generating. I’ll try calling it that next time, OXmeister.

In general, I've just learned that writers write. If you don't put something down 'on paper', you're never going to have a poem, a short story, or a novel. I write every day, whether it's anything worth saving or not. I try to stick with the current project, but sometimes it does take writing about something completely different - and suddenly there's that POP! and I know what to do with that stupid character in that stupid novel who got himself stuck in a stupid corner...

What comes first? The idea or the writing? In my case I don't know because I find a lot of ideas come to me when I am in the act of writing, so for me not writing is worse than not having ideas. But often I start a writing session because an idea comes to me.

I think of it like dancing. I used to dance hiphop in my silly highschool days, so forgive me for the analogy..

When you're trying to come up with new "moves", you don't sit around thinking of them. You stand in front of a mirror and get moving. Some things you come up with are terrible, but eventually something shows promise and you begin to explore and expand on it.

I have no more delusions of being the next Michael Jackson now, but I do see the same process working (at least for me) with writing.

If I sit around thinking, I rarely come up with good material. Sometimes I do. But more often I discover good ideas while writing. There's something about the process, of actively putting words onto paper, that acts as a catalyst for creativity and ideas, even if the words on paper are "blue run hotdog yellow pill banana boat", and they make no sense at all.. I just keep writing and forcing myself not to stop until some sort of narrative, voice, style, or idea comes up that makes me think "hey! I like this! I wonder where this can take me..."

I'm dealing with the same thing myself at the moment, though it's only been about a month since I've done any work on my novel (like you, I've been plugging in a few words here and there hoping that something will take hold and get me going, but finding nothing worthwhile).

Anyway, what I realized was that the conflict that was driving the first part of my story was dried up for the moment. Sure it will come back later after some character development, but until then, nothing is really going on. And yes, there is the main antagonist to think about, but that's more big picture stuff that I'm not ready to address until later. So I decided I need some fresh new conflict, a new and interesting antagonist, to get my characters moving again.

Maybe this is what you need. Think about what was resolved in your story when you hit this block. If those things that were resolved were the things that were driving the story up until now, then you just need to find something to replace them. Hope this helps.

There are multiple steps you can take to reconnect with your work.

• Review and Edit: Read your work as you would a book: without revising it. This re-establishes a connection with your characters, plot, and gauges your consistency. If it doesn't flow as it should, perhaps that the problem; I find it difficult to continue write with errors littering my previous ideas. Repairing the holes should facilitate further creativity.
• Take a Break: Usually I find it counterproductive to cease writing during rough spots (writing presents many challenges, and pauses at each one halt progression), but if you're frustrated over the same conundrum for extended periods of time, then perhaps you should redirect your energies elsewhere. Frustration isn't conducive to creativity, but I find new ideas are. I suggest short stories and poetry; a short reprieve may be beneficial, but too much may stymie your thoughts. Reading is also helpful, but preferably outside the genre of your story, else you might subconsciously steal another's ideas.
• Discontinue: Some ideas are just that—ideas. If you've exhausted all other avenues, then reevaluate whether you should continue. I would suggest beginning with theme. Ask yourself, what am I trying to say? Have I gotten the point across accurately?
  

I had other tidbits of advice, but they were already posted, and I abhor repetition.

Sometimes what I do, is that I take a character and write a little story about them. Nothing big, just a couple thousand words. Anything that comes to your mind really. Like, perhaps you had an interesting encounter - you then write a little about how that character would have reacted and handled the situation. You may end up finding something in those little stories that you want in your novel.

I often sit down and have a team meeting with my characters when I start to struggle. I will write as if I am starting up an official gathering then explain my concerns etc and have each character have a say about how they feel the story is going from their point of view. For instance:

Welcome the story review, the date is <insert> and the meeting has been called as the author fears that he is loosing sight of the main plot line. Miss Nyu would you care to share any thoughts you may have about the story?

Nyu: Actually yes. I've noticed that you are trying to make my character the sterio typical hollywood useless type, but then out of the blue i manage some amazing show of strength/ability. I'm either a confidant killer or a useless bimbo, which is it?

Author: I'm trying to make it so that you learn to be confident, you start out pretty pathetic but eventually evolve into someone the reader will cheer on.

Nyu: Then some of the scenes where you have me kicking butt and taking names should be toned down a little. Maybe have my character accidently achieve sucess instead of switching from a jibbering wreck to a confident Feme fatal in a blink of an eye.

Author: I could do that.... or you could have a split personality which comes out when under pressure. A conditioned killer that has been repressed after some traumatic experience!!

Nyu: Oh that sounds good! Maybe I could kill people with my mind!

Author: Too far fetched....Razor sharp invisible arms would work though!


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How I would have come up with the Elfen Lied character if I was the one who had written it.