6 replies to this topic

[Summer]

I joined AQC back in high school, and since then I've written (and abandoned) a few novels, went off to college, stopped reading fiction, graduated, and started a 9-5. Even though I was incredibly involved with the arts in college (at one point even working as the editor for a literary magazine), I stopped novel-writing completely.

 

Now, I'd like to get back to it, but I'm completely rusty when it comes to full-length manuscripts. Sometimes I feel like I'll never be able to get back to what I love -- like I'm in a never-ending cycle of writer's block. 

 

Have you been through something similar? What would you suggest I do to regain my passion and start writing regularly again?

 

Thank you so much in advance! 

[lnloft]

Start reading again.

 

Write every day. Doesn't matter what it is, doesn't matter how much, but one sentence becomes one paragraph becomes one page, and suddenly you have something to work with.

 

Find yourself some prompts, and see what flows. The MS I'm querying literally came this way. I went to tvtropes.org and rolled myself 5 random tropes to somehow fit into a story, with the idea that it didn't matter what I wrote, I just needed to write something or I would explode. I wrote something.

 

Brainstorm. Jot down ideas, draw arrows from one thing to another, circle important points. Sometimes I find that act of just linking things on physical paper to be a good way to break things down.

 

Related, keep a notebook with you at all times, so that any time an idea comes to you, no matter how major or minor (a scene, a character, a line of dialogue), you can write it down and keep track of these points for use.

 

Take a walk. While you walk, let your mind put storytelling on the backburner and let your subconscious play around with things for a bit.

 

Be patient with yourself. Not everything you write has to be a masterpiece. Realize that nothing you write as a first draft is going to be a masterpiece, or look anywhere near as good as the old stuff you polished for months. I've found starting something to new to be one of the hardest parts.

 

Good luck.

[Summer]

Thank you so much! I think the idea of writing a lot is what’s overwhelming so I’m definitely going to take your advice to break it down. Prompts is a great idea as well!

[mwsinclair]

Those are all great recommendations!

 

I remember when I was in college, or maybe just out of college, it dawned on me that if I wrote a page a day, at the end of one year, I'd have a 365-page manuscript. Of course, that was an oversimplified approach and I'd never attempted a novel at that point, but the math at least works. And I think that's when my renewed commitment to writing goals began.

 

As lnloft said, with a daily writing commitment to yourself, a sentence begets a paragraph, which begets a page. A page leads to a scene and a chapter, etc.

 

The prompts are a great idea. I keep a list of prompts on my laptop for just those reasons.

 

Good luck, and welcome back to AQC!

[Summer]

I like the approach of starting small. I think I may be looking at the big picture without looking at the smaller steps to get there. I'm definitely more excited. Thank you!

[RSMellette]

There's a trick a good director can do when s/he needs an actor to cry. Just before a big emotional scene, the director tells the actor, "Whatever you do, don't cry."

 

Works every time.

 

So, whatever you do, don't write. When you get a story idea, don't write it... keep it in your head as long as you can.

 

Eventually, it'll explode onto the page.

[mwsinclair]

Don't make me sing...