Dedicated Space

Still there. Image by Gene Selkov on Flickr

A few weeks back, Matt was talking about forming good habits.  This got me thinking about how to do this.  In fact, the comment I made was to have a terminal solely for writing.  Matt has previously talked about creating a space for yourself and your writing, a bubble within which you can fully connect to the writing process.  Or something.  If you are having trouble with your writing (and again, I mean me here) then this is probably a good start. 

When I first got my net-book, writing is all I used it for.  It can’t run any games, I didn’t have wireless internet when I got it, so that was out, all I was using it for was the writing.  And it worked.  Because I knew, every time I switched the machine on, I was going to do some god damn writing.  In fact, it was because of this that I managed to storm my way through the serialised piece I did last year in eight weeks.  For me that was an achievement.  That was the equivalent of a book, in eight weeks.  This of course made me feel good about myself, which inspired me in my other writing. 

But time wore on, I did get wireless internet, I installed a video player and got a bucket load of anime that had been recommended to me, and then I fell victim to the syndrome.  What syndrome you may ask? 

‘I’ll just have a quick look online before I get started.’

 
Technology.  I have a love hate relationship with it.  On the one hand, it is advancing at a quickening pace, which (in theory anyway) should make it easier and easier to write, make notes, whatever, on the move, in any spare time you have (unless you write cyberpunk of course, in which case you have to keep updating it to stop it looking… dated).  On the other hand, better technology provides more avenues for easy distractions.  Wireless internet everywhere you go, addictive little games on your handheld devices, easy and simple and oh so very distracting, texting, IM, Twitter… 

The other thing I really need to do is to change my mentality.  I get in from work and I think about writing, but I’d rather do something relaxing instead.  Like murder gorgeously rendered people/aliens/monsters on my PS3.  I need to start thinking that the writing is fun!  I know, I know, that might work if you’re a casual writer, if it’s a hobby or whatever, and somewhere down the line I lost sight of that.  Maybe it’s this tortured writer cliché.  Writing cant possibly be fun right?  Writers sit there, agonising over the placement and use of every word, and usually end up dying alone and penniless in some squat, having drank themselves to death, right? 

Exuberance!

 
This is how you need to feel about writing (and again, I mean ‘I’).  It is a creative process after all.  You mould and shape your words to bring this beautiful project to life, after all, what could better than to bring something fresh and new and alive into this dull, depressing world we live in?

As long as it isn’t dark romance involving vampires.  Ugh.

That’s where I’ve been for a few months.  I had a huge burst of energy back in July and got quite a bit of writing done, but then I fell into this rut.  So, how do we combat this?  How do we get back into writing?

The Rhythm

Image by Gene Selkov on Flickr

Well, Matt has extolled the virtues many times of developing a rhythm to your writing, trying to set aside a specified time each day or week in order to really focus on your writing.  Obviously though, life throws up hurdles, and this can sometimes be impossible.  Whether you’ve got kids, or work throws you all over the place, or whatever reason, sometimes you cant hit your specified targets or goals.  Sometimes (like me) this might cause you to start feeling bad about yourself (or your writing) because you can feel like you’ve failed.  I do this on a regular basis.  I can be out somewhere, and mull over ideas and get some really good ones sorted out in my head, but when I get the chance to sit down and write them out, other things get in the way.  Perhaps I can’t be bothered, perhaps I need to eat, perhaps I put on the PS3 and play games for hours on end instead. 

The worst thing about this is that the more time passes, the deeper the rut seems to get, because (for me personally) I feel like I’ve got more and more to make up for, and this starts to have an exponential effect. 

Side Projects

 
I know, I know, I’m super guilty of this.  Can’t face getting back into the meat of your main project?  Just start a new one!  Well this might not entirely be a bad thing.  A while ago I started writing a little something, just something easy with no real direction.  The thing about it was, it was easy.  While it may be distracting from the big important project that you’re working on, but sometimes can’t face, isn’t it better to write something else, something easy to tide you over, instead of doing no writing at all?  Just to keep those writing muscles limber, so they don’t completely atrophy. 

Ah, here I am on my writing/working out metaphor again! 

Breaking the Wall

 
The biggest problem I’ve had is that the project I’ve been working on most recently stalled because I hit a wall with the plot.  I talked about this in previous posts (waaaaaaay back, which shows you how long I’ve been in this rut), and I honestly had no idea how to proceed.  Thankfully I got some feedback from Matt which helped me re-jig (in my mind at least, not on paper) what I’d written so far, and how this led to a solution to getting past this wall.  I am now very happy to say I know how I can progress with the story (including some very unexpected twists that I didn’t see before) so now all I have to do is, y’know, write… 

And Finally

 
Do an outline!  I’ve never been one to write down outlines much before.  Mainly because I’m more of a seat of the pants writer and don’t always know how a project will end.  But another part of me has always felt that, if I have the idea cemented in my head (and I do have a lot in my head) then it feels like a bit of a waste of time to write an outline when I could be writing the actual thing.  By that I don’t mean that outlines are bad, by any means, but if you know how things are going to happen, then why write it down, taking away precious writing time that could be used to write? 

Well that’s all well and good when you’re all the way up there, but here at the bottom of the rut, you need to do everything you can to get you going again, right?

I’ve spoken about one or two ways before on this site. These basically revolve around keeping track of your progress at regular intervals. But that is not always enough. I want to talk about a website I recently rediscovered on the train.

Who can hold you to account?

"Follow me! I can help you achieve your goals! Yippee!" Ahem, image courtesy of Cyn74

One of the best ways of getting someone to stick to their goals is to have someone else hold them to account. At school our teachers make sure we complete our homework, at work our bosses and supervisors help us to hit targets. Writers often have agents or publishers asking for completion dates. But what if you don’t have this (or don’t want it)?

The obvious answer is friends and family, bit it’s not a very good one. Sure, you can agree your deadlines with a friend or five, or with your spouse or parents, and they can remind you of it from time to time, and that may even be enough for some people.

But how much can they do, really? Often this approach amounts to little more than nagging, and you can’t quite convince yourself that failing is having an effect on them. In other words, you know the only person you’re letting down is yourself. And you obviously have some tolerance for that, or you wouldn’t need a second party to nag you in the first place.

Put it in Structure, Put it in Public

Enter stickk.com. I had heard about this site a while back, but had completely forgotten about it until I saw an article in The Daily Telegraph (I’ve checked, and the artcile is not actually on the website, but nevermind). The piece itself was about dieting (which is not dissimilar to writing, honest), and opened with some details about stickk.com.

The site asks you to make “Commitment Contracts”, which work on the following principals:

1. Setting clear, defined goals helps you achieve them
2. If there is a risk of losing money, you are less likely to fail
3. Having someone to hold you to account helps
4. Having people to cheer you on helps

That basically lays out the steps needed to set up your contract. But let’s take a look at some of these points and why they might work.

"Do it! DO IT, or I'll whoop ya!" Cool walking stick image from Andrei Niemimäki

I’ll start with number three, as this is what we’ve been talking about. Again, this is likely to be someone you know, but there are a couple of things that make this different from the nagging relative described above. For a start, making them part of a contract with you makes the whole thing much more official. Second, their role is framed as a “referee”. It is not therefore their job to get you to do it, merely to judge if you are telling the truth and meeting your goals. The responsibility is still with you.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the contract though, is the money. You can set the stakes, detailing how much money you will lose if you fail. stickk.com takes your credit/debit card details, and each time you fail one of your goals, they bill your card and send the money to the person you nominate. That you can choose the recipient makes it even more powerful. From the Telegraph article:

Ian Ayres, a lawyer and economist at Yale, [...] author of Carrots and Sticks
[...] suggests naming an “anti-charity” – one that you wouldn’t ever think of supporting – as the beneficiary of your broken promise.

Anjana Ahuja, How Can You Stop Her Eating The Cake? The Daily Telegraph, Feb 8th 2011

Ouch. Of course, another suggestion is to give the money to your referee, ensuring that you have a strict arbiter.

There is another, unspoken principle hidden in that list. This is a website after all, and every achievement or failure is public. This, as I can testify, has a big effect. The fact that any number of unnamed referees may be out there, viewing your updates, certainly does get you to write. It was part of the reasoning behind me starting getmewriting.com, and continues to ensure that there are new posts here every week (even if I don’t write them all – thanks Craig).

That’s my Goal

So after my confident assertions that such a site should work, you’re probably wondering whether I’ve put my money where my mouth is. Erm… no. Another good thing about having a stake involved though, is it makes you think extra hard about the targets you set. I have a goal in mind, but when I look at it in this context, well… I wouldn’t put money on it. Which means there’s a problem with my goal.

So I’m going to have to have to give this some more thought. But I love the idea, and I want to do it. Craig, how do fancy earning a few quid?

I needed a plan, and one of my own devising. Stage one was to generate some material, or even more basic than that, get into some kind of writing routine. Gather some of the tools to generate some material in other words.

And after two years, look how far I’ve come! Not very far at all.

The disappointing Truth

I recently looked at my writing over the past year, and realised that on average, I had written less words per week than the year before! Admittedly, the stats for the latter are incomplete, so I can’t be certain, but it’s disappointing to say the least.

What’s more, if I look at my completed projects, it gets even worse. The list is so woeful I will not go into specifics here, but suffice to say I felt ashamed.

The perilous plateau

I think the reasons for this are pretty clear – I got comfortable. It’s likely a familiar pattern to anyone trying to achieve a long term goal, and it goes something like this:

This is not a plateau. Plateus are more scary than this. You do not want to se a picture of a plateau. Instead, feast your eyes on this fantastic image is courtesy of Paul Kehrer.

1. You become dissatisfied with an aspect of your life.
2. You get serious. You write goals, you make plans and you get to work. It’s hard work, for a while.
3. Your routine is now established. You are used to it; you get comfortable. This happens without you realising and could therefore go on for ages.
4. After a while on the plateau, something causes you to slip. Your standards drop a little; you do less.
5. This causes you to suddenly take notice. It is as if you have caught a glimpse of the precipice on the other side of the plateau. Shaken, you quickly move back to step one and start the whole thing all over again.

Somewhere along the line, I had made the unconscious decision that what I was doing was enough. I lingered there for too long, and was surprised and dismayed at the results.

Slowly slowly, raisey barrey

That last title may or may not read right – you decide!

Okay, enough of the doom and gloom – this realisation is also cause for some celebration! I have been doing more writing than before I decided to get serious. More importantly, I’ve recognised that this is not enough. In other words, my head is now no longer where it was two years ago – the bar for satisfaction has been raised.

So, you could see the cycle above as going like this:

1. Raise the bar.
2. Improve.
3. Plateau (and maybe dip a little).
4. Repeat.

Here you can see a recipe for steady improvement, continually raising your threshold for satisfaction with each iteration.

It is for this reason that the plateau is so dangerous, and nit the dip. The former is insidious and stealthy, the latter is a slap in the face that forces you to improve or quit. The trick then, is to minimise the time spent plateauing. Cut the “slowly slowly” out of that near-nonsensical heading in other words.

How to do that? I’ve got the measuring bit down now, but there’s always room for improvement. Perhaps I need to separate my stats into blog time and word count, versus fiction time and word count. I also need to update the goals that I’ve written in the same spreadsheet.

The other piece of the puzzle is regular reviews. Basically, this is a structured way of paying attention. Frankly, I’m not sure how to make myself do this. I need to spend some time once a month totting up my averages for the month gone and updating my goals. But I’ve said that before…

Over to you

So tell me – I need to know – am I the only one who’s experienced this with their writing? What techniques have you come up with to help you pay attention? Is it even feasible to build up writing habits like this over time, or am I pussy-footing around, kidding myself?

Who knows? Someone knows. Tell me!

Ultimately though, these things are just excuses. To be honest, there should be nothing better for me when I’m tired and distracted than to do a bit of writing. For a start, I always feel better. My mood lifts knowing I’ve made a tiny step towards completing my project.

Second, I actually feel energised! This should be the perfect cure for my weariness!

That’s not the only thing that has prevented me from writing so far this week (admittedly, it is only Tuesday as I write this. but I didn’t do much in the way of writing last week, either). That thing was starting something new. That something new was this blog post! I do it most weeks, of course, but I simply did not know what to write this week. Yesterday, I just put it off.

A blank page! Oh, the horror! Won't someone think of the children?

The cure for this? Just write anyway! Case in point, I sat down and started freewriting, actually writing down, “I need a new blog post. What can I write about?” as a starter, and then riffing on my current feelings about writing. This blog post is the result.

Admittedly, this is no masterpiece, but there are a few lessons to take home, even here.

1. Any reasons you have for not writing at any one time are likely to be excuses. The best way to find out if this is true is to pause, and actually ask yourself (out loud if it helps, and doesn’t get you strange looks), “is this an excuse?” Before you’ve finished the question, you will already know the answer.
2. As we’re asking ourselves questions, the next one should be, “would writing, right now, actually make me happier and more energised.” If the answer is yes, you’d better get over it and get some writing done!
3. If you’re thinking, “but I don’t know what to write,” see point number one. More usefully, just try writing anything, even if it’s a short piece of writing about why you’re not writing(!) Write what you did today; pick an object you see out the window and write about that; pluck a word out of thin air and use it to start a sentence. I am always amazed that anything can come out of this kind of exercise, but it often does. What you definitely don’t want to do is get out of your routine, or out of the habit.

So there it is – no excuses, no time-wasting, no habit-breaking. Done.

Is this a writer feeling self-doubt? Image courtesy of Alex E. Proimos

Now, what happens when you think this about all your work?  What happens when you look at the whole body of your writing work and think ‘my god, it’s all worthless.  I’m worthless, what right do I have to call myself a writer?’  This is usually followed by a fainting like action onto the chaise lounge followed by bitter, bitter weeping.

It can happen.  It is a similar beast to writer’s block.  I would like to think I’ve been fortunate enough to not suffer from this.  No matter what, I’ve always felt that I’ve had something to write about.  But occasionally, malaise can set in.  I think this can occur more often if you write longer fiction.  You have to become entrenched in what you’re writing, long haul, and there can be long periods when you don’t actually write anything new, and just edit.  I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with editing, but sometimes you just want to write. 

Maybe that’s what’s up with me.  I have editors block.  I know I have stuff to edit, and it isn’t even heavy editing, but I just cant bring myself to do it.  The task itself is too much for me to contemplate.  Even though I have the documents open all the time on my net book, I can’t bring myself to look at them.  And this is when the self-doubt came crawling in, insidious, malign.

So how to get over it?  Well, the best way I guess is probably to just knuckle down and do it.  Set yourself a goal.  Or even a punishment.  ‘No food until I finish another chapter.’  Of course there is no way for you to monitor this.  Unless you literally chain yourself to the desk.  How else to beat the rut?  Any suggestions?

Image courtesy of Chocolate Geek

This question was prompted by a book I’m reading, novel in a year, by Louise Doughty. The book is divided up into weeks, and every other week has an exercise. One of the early exercises is to sum up why you want to be a novelist, in one sentence. One sentence – that’s tricky.

The Love of it

I spent some time trying to think of some deep purpose to my ambition; something original, that might sound wise or insightful. But I kept coming back to the fact that I really like reading novels. I’ve always liked them. As far back as I can remember, I have enjoyed getting lost in another world. Novels are long enough to do that, and I find them much more absorbing than any other medium.

And what I enjoy, I want to emulate. Or, if not emulate (although there have been many authors I admire, I only want to sound like myself when I write), at least make my own version thereof.

My Readers Need Me!

No, I cannot pretend that I have some altruistic desire to share the pleasure I get from reading – to impart the same with my own work. In part, that would seem rather arrogant of me, I think. It’s not that I don’t believe that there are people out there that would enjoy my work, but I do not assume that the world is clamouring for a novel by Matt Roberts. And I don’t see it as my duty that I write for these people; that it would be a selfish tragedy to deny them such works of genius!

Apart from that, I do not require readers to want to write a novel. Without anyone to read it, I would likely still write it anyway.

Climbing the Mountain

The challenge might be another part of it, though. It’s a long old process, especially for those of us who can only write in small snatches. But I imagine a day when my novel is finally completed, and know that the relief and pride that come from such an accomplishment will be worth it. That is one of the things that spurs me on. Without relishing the challenge, I believe I would be consigned to writing quarter-finished pieces, constantly starting on the next project, but never finishing.

So, why do I want to be a novelist, in one sentence?
I want to become a novelist, because I love novels, and relish the feeling of satisfaction I’ll have when I finally complete my own.

Perhaps not amazingly profound, but true, and motivation enough. Have you ever taken the time to consider why you want to be a novelist, poet, shirt story writer, script writer etc.? I’d love to read your reasons!

Such has been the problem for the last couple of weeks. I recently smashed my records for the most words written in a month and in a week. Woohoo! Unfortunately, rather than spur me on to even greater things, this has had the opposite effect. Something went click in my brain and suddenly I felt like I’d earned a break.

Well, no actually Matt, you didn’t.

This break was not a conscious decision. It was more like an attitude that seeped in. Of course, I should have confronted this head on when I felt this insidious seepage, but alas, I just carried on doing trickles of writing and feeling guilty. The result is that not a lot of writing gets done, and there is now a general lack of motivation. Bad! Bad! Bad! Two steps forward, one step back (at least).

So, what should I have done? I’ve prepared a short list that I think will help me in future:

• Set out your next goals. Let’s keep that motivation going. You (and I, too. Everybody!) should take a look at the stats and decide what you should be chasing next. What’s the next goal? Play about with it. If this goal is achieved, what does that mean, and what else might be achieved? These are the motivating questions that ensured the last milestone was reached, so they should not be ignored now.
• And if you must take it easy… Then decide to take it easy! Don’t leave it to chance, don’t lose control. Set the boundaries. Are you going to do nothing for a set amount of days, or have a smaller wordcount target this week? What are the exact numbers? Stick to it! And now that you’ve decided on the conditions of your rest, don’t forget to set some goals for afterwards so you’re not left languishing!
• Pay attention! Are you having an unscheduled break? Is your wordcount dipping below acceptable levels? Feeling demotivated? Don’t ignore it! Confront it! Set some new goals or schedule a break, but again, make the decision!

Hopefully I’ll be able to practice what I preach! Motivation is pretty much everything when you’re working on something alone, so it’s important to be aware and to take control! Now let’s get to it!

• How many people break their new years resolution, stop going to the gym after two sessions, fail their diet at the sight of a chocolate bar? Sticking something out requires discipline, and if it’s something you feel can be put off until the next day, it’s even harder. It will never be urgent.Sticking to a writing routine is difficult, especially when starting.
• There’s never enough time. We can carve out a little niche here and there for writing, but the truth is things will never get done quickly enough to keep us satisfied, and there are always other commitments gnawing away.
• There is a lot of competition out there. A lot. How many writing blogs are there by people who haven’t made it yet? How many fledgling writers reading them? It’s no wonder your story hasn’t been picked up. It’s going to take a lot of persistence
• First drafts look like crap. It’s easy for us to write and write and look back and think, oh God, I can’t do this, it’s terrible. It’s difficult to write well, and easy to dismiss something as rubbish and forget the whole thing. But almost every writer writes badly in their first draft. Chill.

So next time you feel like you’ve not done enough, remember that this is hard. It takes a lot of work and dedication. You should expect to struggle occasionally. But you’re still here, you’re still doing it. That kind of attitude is half the battle.

Now, the list above is rather short, there are bound to be many more reasons that you can think of. Share them in the comments, please. And remember, these aren’t excuses, but they are reasons to cut ourselves a little slack every now and again. Not too much. Just a little.

• How long do you spend at work, asleep, playing games, watching TV? It would only take a fraction of that time to write your novel. It’s estimated that on average a writer can manage a page in an hour. Write for just one hour every day and you have 365 pages done in a year. To some, that’s what you call a book.
• You want to write, yes? So, chances are you read a lot, you may have done quite a bit of writing in school. You were good, yes? You may have taken writing courses. You almost certainly have had good ideas worth writing about. You’ve got talent in other words. This is already something you’re good at!
• And have you remembered that you enjoyed writing in the past yet? You probably still enjoy it. Even better!
• You’re here, so you already know that if you’re struggling there is help. Plenty. Between blogs like this, online communities, books, writing courses, there is an abundance of help out there!

When you think about it like that, what’s so difficult, really? I want people to use this list as a little bit of motivation when they need something to help them pull themselves together. I’d like you to look at this list and think, that’s right – writing’s great, and I can do it, I have done it, it’s easy!

Has anyone got anything similar they tell themselves? Add it in the comments and it may make it’s way to the list above.