Hello Writers!

I have been working on two big writing projects for a couple years now and have not finished either of them.  One is a novel for teens and the other is a scholarly book about Celtic folklore.  I have written hundreds of pages for each of these, but the pages are not continuous as I've let myself "write around" in order just to keep going and find out what I'm trying to do.

 I have a clearer idea now for both of these projects but when I open the file and look at the great big mess of pages, I'm daunted and shy from the whole thing.  I guess a secondary problem is that I'm not sure which of these to finish first.  They both call me in different ways, and I feel passionate about both of them - to the point that I will be greatly disappointed in myself if I don't complete them.

 Does anyone have any advice, suggestions or help to offer?  I'd be very grateful to hear about your own experiences, too.

Thank you in advance!

happily,

KateSinging
 

With the novel, I'd suggest reading what you've got and forming a general plot outline and character descriptions from it, then starting over completely.

With the folklore book, that too sounds like it needs some kind of outline, but since it doesn't have to be quite as linear you can probably salvage what you have by breaking things into chapters, then filling in the chapters individually.

 Thank you, Melydia.  I think you're absolutely right that I'm at the stage where choices must be made and an outline would be very useful.  I don't know about you, but I'm great at the first stages of a project when the possibilities are endless.  But when it's time to actually decide what this thing is, I find myself losing faith.

 I think it's actually possible to write too much now - especially on the folklore book.  I followed my own instincts and heaps of advice from other writers to just jump in and write, and what I'm left with is an unruly mess.  But still, it's my mess, and I'll make something of it.

What sort of writing do you like to do, yourself?

with every good wish,

Kate Singing
 

I love the first stages of a project.  My problem is getting to the final stages, like, ever. :)  The advice I gave you is probably good advice, but I admit I've never followed it myself. *blush*

Most of my writing is short stories for this very reason - my attention span is so short that if it's not done in three or four sittings, it never gets done.  The only exception is NaNoWriMo, but that's sort of a month-long first stage. :)

 --melydia

 Hi Melydia,

    Well, this really is funny because I, too, did NaNoWriMo (a year ago now) and that is at least partly why I've got more than 50,000 words that don't *necessarily* go in order!  I loved it, though, and found it very freeing.  And it sure teaches you how much you can get done while you're waiting for the pasta to boil or in those little spaces where you usually loaf and look at the weather channel or a catalog.  My true love did it at the same time, and we cheered each other on right to the last day of November.  I had the luxury of finishing up around 10 pm, but he was sprinting for the finish line at midnight.  I'm glad to say we both made it.

 
As far as finishing projects, I did finish a biggie once, so I know I can do it:  my dissertation.  There again, your instinct to get some sort of outline or order on the table was what really saved me.  I'd been writing for a few months without really feeling how the whole thing fit together, when one day I went out for a run and the organization sort of fell on me.  I remember running and reciting, running and reciting, afraid I might forget it before I got home.  I was so excited and grateful, and it turned out that everything got way, way easier after that.

So I am going to follow the kernel of your advice and work on an outline for both projects before I ever write another word.  Thanks again so much for your help!  And good luck with those stories - and that NaNo project, too!

happily,

KateSinging
 

 Oh, I forgot to tell you, Meylidia, that I LOVED your Thanksgiving acrostic poem.  I just spotted it on the Artellagram. It's witty and cool!

    cheers-

KateSinging 

I've found that building a routine into my writing practice has had immeasurable positive results.  Once upon a time, I either procrastinated and never wrote a word, or I'd sit down, write a little and then waste more time than I had to waste sharpening pencils, etc.

So, I decided on a warm-up routine where I would naturally end with my mind primed and my pencil ready.  I'm an early riser (a by-product of aging - hit 50 and  an 8 hour sleep was a thing of the past).  I don't even need an alarm.  I get up no later than 5.  (Don't groan!  Pick your own time!)  Then comfy clothes, hot tea, 15 minutes of "Bo-Meditation" which is thinking positive thoughts, setting positive goals and telling myself how great I am.  Don't laugh.  We all know we have greatness in us, but how often does it get acknowledged. Occasonally I read a motivating letter or quick chapter in a related book istead of meditating. Finally I have a special collection of miniatures, many gifts from my favorite people and most with a story.  I pick one item, bring it to my workspace.  Now here's where you will all think I'm crazy, but hang on.  I have the momento 'talk' to me in the voice of the gift-giver.  I remember things they have told me and I simply recall and expand.  "You're a funny writer."  "I liked your lazy poem." That type of conversation really puts me in a good and ready mood.

That may sound like a lot, but it doesn't take much time, and when I've gotten that far, I simply sit down and nearly always start to write. I've found building a routine, short or shorter, makes a difference to me. And I no longer procrastinate until it's so ate I need to go to bed.

Oh, I also set an alarm clock or challenge myself to write a certain amount.  When I know what is expected, I generally respond.  Day by day, it adds up quickly.

Am I the only weird writer with a writing routine? 

 Bo,

Once again, I find myself inspired by your example.  I grew up in an atmosphere that was extremely skeptical of praise.  In fact, even today when something nice happens (like winning a poetry prize or snagging a good gig), my mother says, "Be careful, Kate.  You'll get a big head."  In this philosophy, you are not supposed to really notice the good things for fear that they will draw the attention of the Bad Things.  Among the worse things, is Obnoxious Pride, which as we all know "goeth before the fall."

So I love your idea of actually paying attention to the good things people say to and about you and the things you know about yourself.  Stoking your creative fire this way seems fun and funny, yes, but only in a good and charming way.  Endearing, actually.

When I was writing my dissertation, my best tool to overcome fear was the kitchen timer, as in "Sit down in this chair and don't get up for 45 minutes."  This was important because I tend to get jittery when I'm thinking, and I can let myself wander all over the place rather than concentrate the energy and get the stuff on paper.  My other tool was to have a 3 pages/day requirement for myself.  This served me so well.  Some days the pages flew and I was up and out in no time.  Other days, I was still at it in the evening.  But I always got them done, and that helped me keep faith with myself.

I'm going to think more about  this.

KS
 

 Hi Bo and Melydia -

Just wanted to tell you both that I AM actually working on my book again!  I'm taking the spirit of both of your suggestions - Melydia to concentrate on structure, and Bo to celebrate and buoy confidence.  I've re-read the whole thing (about 200 pages) and made notes to help me with the restructuring, and also with lots of stars to mark the exciting parts.  The story is bubbling in me again.  I am hoping to find a way to keep the pot simmering as I teach another busy term and land in the summer with time to really gun my engines.

I'm doing the Goalar Energy course and finding it incredibly helpful to actually write down very small goals (like:  "read 20 pages of book by Tuesday 5 pm").  I'm amazed at the difference between just thinking about a goal and actually writing it down.  It's the difference between blowing it off and actually doing it! 

 Hope your projects are coming along well and joyfully.  Thanks again for your help and advice.

KateSinging
 

Congratulations, KateSinging, for this great news on your book!  Maybe a kick start with the Goalar Energy course is what you needed to see your goals come to fruition.  Actually, the suggestion of writing down your goals is an excellent one ---I've sorely missed the boat on that one!  I tend to just kind of 'glide' from one day to another but without a purpose, alot of 'meatier' projects get bypassed. 

- chameleon

Stan,

So glad your own plan is progress.  Getting re-started once you've let the daily writing habit pass is as difficult as getting back to the gym when you haven't exercised for a month.

I let myself get distracted, quite willingly too, in the middle of my major writing project before the holidays.  Dealing with Christmas and a cruise 3 days later soundly chased away my sacred ritual, and I haven't been able to even pick up the book.  But I do see it glaring at me like a petulant child and I am feeling guiltier by the day.  Just not guilty enough to open up a page and DO something.  

I need a new plan, Stan. Someone, somewhere - a dose of inspiration, please???

Bo 

Hi Bo -- Your graphic description of a "petulant child" staring at you after the loss of your sacred ritual, well, makes me ask the first question: do you feel you can reset your ritual once again?  If not, and since I cannot help but notice you love your lists-making and appointment setting, would you find it helpful to make a list and appointment for yourself?  If you don't feel you can do it yourself (sometimes I need outside assistance to motivate me and keep me accountable -- gives me that edge) find someone you trust who will hold you accountable for the date and who will just be an active listener -- it's called an "Art Buddy System" and can work both ways if that person wants to trade the favor with you, she can offer half an hour of ear service for you and vice versa each week or as agreed.  You talk and the buddy only listens while you tell of what you accomplished on your list, or not, keeping to the point.  When the time is up the buddy reflects back to you.  I've done this before with an artist friend and we helped each other through projects.  Will this dose you up and out?  I'd volunteer to put you on my calendar... if you can't find someone in your area.  Let me know.  (The trick is to be disciplined and not wander into conversations about global warming, world hunger or Billizetti's grunge haiku etc.... [;) It'll be rough, but we can manage somehow.]  Anyway, hope that's helpful!   ~Lori

Hello Bo, Chameleon, Lori and Everyone working on projects -

This is such an interesting discussion:  thank you all!  I sympathized with Chameleon's remark about neglecting the "meatier" projects when you don't have a plan.  And now, reading Eric Maisel's book (Van Gogh Blues), I understand a little better about why this drives me crazy.  He writes that creative people are particularly sensitive to time, and to the sense that we should be making something meaningful and artful all the time - so wasted time (or time perceived as wasted, anyway) is crushing to us, and of course that leads to blues and the likelihood of more wasted time.  That was really a revelation to me and helped me understand even some of my early memories of going mad on dead Sunday afternoons when my exhausted parents napped or why I couldn't abide watching television which seemed (and still seems) like a colossal waste of time.  I hope this new insight will help me feel a little less that the clock is always ticking, that the hounds are baying at my heels, and instead realize that time not actively creating can still be full of meaning, restoration, and fun!

As you say, Chameleon, those meatier projects require an investment of time, space, energy and faith, and sometimes I just can't seem to muster what's required when I'm working hard teaching school.  So I try to keep my creative life afloat with small, doable projects - like a quick poem or a Zentangle or 15 minutes of improvised music - but as seems to be the case with you, Chameleon, this doesn't always satisfy me.

 I'm learning alot from the Goalar Energy course, and this might be helpful to you, too, Bo.  As I wrote earlier, writing down the small goals is a very practical and helpful way to keep yourself moving forwards - and there is a vast difference for me between a mental intention and a goal I put in my special notebook with my new markers!  But I've also been learning about how many ways we can keep energy flowing to our projects through acts large and small.  Even taking 30 seconds to make a list of ideas helps me feel I'm still connected to my book.  And then, too, there are some great exercises in visualization that help me to see and feel what my project might be, and also to "talk" with it about what it most wants right now.  

 And finally, I think you're really onto something powerful, Lori, in the idea of shared goals, support, and friendship, and this works for ourselves, too.  Like your artwork, Chamelon, we have to be our own best friends!  We need to cultivate some gentleness towards ourselves and the same kind of understanding we'd extend to any of our dear friends who confessed they'd been thrown off their writing schedules.  We would say to that friend, "Well, Bo, you're such a marvelous wordsmith, and it makes perfect sense that with all that going on in your life you didn't have much time or energy to write.  How do you feel now?  Would you like to write now?  And what would feel best as a way to start?"  And then we would try to help make that possible.  So I find it exciting and moving to think that we can do that for each other AND for ourselves (with practice).  I'm learning so much from all of you CREATORS!

 sending warm wishes for start-ups and keeping-goings,

and gratitude-

KateSinging 

 Hi again friends-

I just looked back at my GIANT reply to all of you and realized how sprawling and massive it is, and I wonder if it's just too overwhelming. I have never belonged to an on-line community before, and my real-life experience is rooted strongly in writing letters and essays (with lots of space to think and express) - so I think my inexperience and my fondness for longer forms have combined into something that doesn't quite fit here.

Perhaps forums like this are better-suited to quick replies and short doses of inspiration and encouragment?  If so, I will aim my pen in that direction!

KateSinging

KateSinging--I like reading your posts.  You have a lot of wisdom and offer much encouragement.  Thanks!

Jessie K.