Question for Litchick, Novelist and...

[BsshBossh]

... and any other published writers on here. I am halfway through writing my first novel. I have the luxury of being able to write fulltime (for now) as DD is in nursery fulltime and I've taken a year off work. But I'm stuck. I'm an outliner and I've summarised all the major scenes in advance. I'm excited by the story and I started well (as I said, I'm halfway through first draft) but now I simply can't be bothered. Pure apathy and laziness really. The best advice I ever heard about writing was to simply show up at the desk and write.

But to inspire me I'd like to know how you write through the stalls, what your writing routines are like, how you keep on writing day in and day out.

Hope you can share :-)

I have a fab book called 'writing the bones' which was full of creative writing exercises desighned to get you rjuices flowing before settling down to do your real writing. I found it very effective to focus on these set writing tasks each day - like a warm-up!

Oh yes, candleshoe, I have that book! I forgot about it. I like the idea of "warm-up exercises" before settling down to write the novel. A bit like Julia Cameron's morning pages I guess, too. Yes, I should "warm up" each morning and then hopefully that should put me in the right frame of mind for writing the rest of the day. Thanks!

Just seen all the typos in my post!

I tend to dry up, not be bothered etc when the bit I'm writing isn't quite right. I have to go about it in a different way, and then it's okay again. In short, for me, if it isn't fun to write, it won't be fun to read. Why not come to this bit of the novel a little bit differently, change the setting or something?

Good luck!

Very common problem. Sometimes the only cure is to put it away for a period of time and when you take it out again - it will be fresher, almost like another person's work.

Go and write some short stories, read...don't push for a while.

Well done for getting this far though.

Mslexia have a new novelist comp - check their website. Also the Writers and Artists Yearbook website have a comp. Maybe that will inspire...

Thanks ConstanceFelicity - the thing is I'm really enjoying the novel - I love the characters and the plot is great (even if I say so myself!). It's totally crazy how I simply can't be bothered at the moment as I know once I open up the document and start writing it again I'll love it.

I'm procrastinating for the hell of it.

Thanks Punkatheart - I've read a few of your posts and I'm interested in your own writing routines. Can you share? Also, is that what you do - put the writing aside for a while when you get stuck in a stall?

Are you at a bit in the story which you're not crazy about? Maybe skip it for now, jump onto the next bit that excites you? You can always go back. The key thing is to get stuff down. (Another good piece of advice is, don't start every day by reading over what you wrote yesterday. Just start writing rather than nit-picking over old mistakes. You can deal with all that at the end.)

My experience (first novel being published next yr) is that you make your own momentum. It's by writing every day, just showing up and bashing stuff out, that you get into the zone, and that's when stuff gets really productive and exciting. You start thinking about it overnight, when you're walking to the shops. No moment is wasted.

If you wait till you're feeling properly inspired or fired up, you may never get there. That sense of falling into something came, for me, when I just kept at it. The idea really grabbed me, and I mapped out the major scenes as you have so I knew where I had to go. So I decided I'd attack it every day to see what happened. And when stuff started to take off, it was magical, a total surprise, I hadn't expected it to be like that.

You have to commit. Or rather, I do.

Oh and when I came up against an obstacle, a long solitary walk often helped me to see a way through.

Thanks CarmelitaMiggs. You asked, "Are you at a bit in the story which you're not crazy about?" That's the thing, I'm not. I truly am enjoying the novel but have fallen into a procrastination hole! However, I like your ideas about writing another scene (I've mapped out the entire novel in advance so it's easy for me to jump to another scene in another chapter) and also about simply sitting down to write.

The problem is, I know all these things but still I'm apathetic about actually getting my butt in the chair .

However, everyone's tips are kicking me up the butt so thanks! Please keep them coming and please share with me your writing routines too.

Congrats on your first novel being published, CarmelitaMiggs .

Oh I wish I could have a routine! I have many many short stories on the go at any one time - plus non-fiction and some proof-reading. So yes, it something seems stale, I leave it for a while. For example, I am working on a story for The Bridport and the end is annoying me - so off to a flash story.

My writing schedule is chaotic and I therefore I do like deadlines. You can impose your own - I will write the scene with character X by tuesday.

This is what I have to achieve this week:

1. Read a non-fiction book and review for a magazine I assistant edit. (Paid work - rare!)

1. FInish the Bridport story and send.

1. Choose and send a story for The Bristol Prize.

1. Do an interview for a local charity, for whom I have been appointed their Publicity Officer. I found it hard to say no!

1. Write a new short story for an online critiqueing forum.

And it's Wednesday already!

You have to write to your own rhythms but with a level of self-discipline. But I am not keen on the 'routine' of writing from 9-5 - because it makes writing sound like drudgery and it is the most wonderful stimulating, magical and creative job a person can have...

Also proof read my own typos! (In a rush, sorry!)

"It is the most wonderful stimulating, magical and creative job a person can have" - Oh yes, so so true. This sentence is inspiration enough for me to get my butt back in the chair .

Update for you kind folk who helped me resume writing. I am!!! Completed a chapter this week and excited about the next. I'm posting here now to ensure I stay on track this time (by making myself publicly accountable).

Thanks everyone .

So glad you've got going again. I write 10 min animation scripts for a living, so I don't get that 'can't be bothered' feeling too badly as they're only 14 pages or so long.

However, I wrote the first draft of a 45' radio play a while ago and, like you, had very carefully worked out my story and was all fired up. But oh God it was like swimming the channel. I think going a bit malajusted and wonky during the long haul, even when you've been desperate to get stuck in, is all part of the process.

Thanks Dukes , you're right it is all part of the process.

This is otherwise known as... the middle . I find I race through the first 15,000 to 20,000 words or so and then I get to the middle and I stall. And I don't want to write, can't be bothered, am over it etc.. A couple of things usually get me through...

The first is a decent plan (outline, scene breakdown, whatever you want to call it).

The second is having some kind of ritual (I make a cup of green tea and then I sit down and I write. I don't make a cup of green tea and sit down and check out Facebook etc.).

The third thing is an ugly little kitchen timer which I set and then write for 45 minutes non-stop until it rings its ugly little ring at me! No using the internet for research purposes, no checking email and so on. Just pure writing. The short bursts of time are very helpful. I think it's something about breaking your time down into units, especially if you're writing full-time (or as full-time as it gets with kids). It can be quite confronting to think you have six hours and that you must write for those entire six hours. Instead, if you tell yourself that you'll do three bursts of 45 minutes over those six hours (and do a bit of research or more planning in-between), it's an easier commitment.

And don't forget -- being a novelist is a job like any job. There will always be bits of it you don't like, could do without, detest etc.!

Fantastic tips Novelist - thanks. I'm back in the saddle of consistent writing again now, thank goodness. My version of "45 minutes" is "1000 words" but if I get stuck with that then I am getting myself an egg timer .

Late to this...LC here.

I have to be very strict as I am on tight deadlines, so I keep that very much in mind.

At the beginning of each week in my diary, I have a word count pencilled in as to where I should be. I check that each Monday to see how far behind I am

Hi LC/wordfactory - thanks for the reply. Word counts are definitely working for me now (1000 a day minimum) and I've set myself a self-imposed deadline for novel to be completely written (though not necessarily polished) by July . Good luck with your more externally-imposed deadline!

Actually I have just subbed my latest, so am having a breather before the editing stage.

That said, I have the previous one coming out very soon so am in the throes of publicity and really should turn my mind to that.

Manana.

Wordfactory - enjoy the (albeit brief) breather!