The Writing Desk: How To Continue Being A Writer When Everything Around You Sucks!
You know what pisses
me off more not getting enough sleep. Walking into office and hearing how
things are terrible and no one is in a good mood. I don’t know if anyone has
ever told them how this Universe works but seem to have missed a few crucial
steps. Complaining about how the world is conspiring against you isn’t going to
get you anywhere. That is why instead of complaining about how having to hear
complaints first thing each morning irritates the hell out of me, I am going to
focus my attention on something that might help me and the rest of the aspiring
authors out there. Here are 5 things you should keep in mind when you are a
writer and everything around you sucks.
1. There is no
such thing as inspiration: If you are
waiting to be inspired before you put your pen to paper or sit down at your
laptop, you’re going to be waiting a long time. The only inspired writing I do,
are my blog posts. Even then I have them planned out in advance. (Thank you
blog planners). But to be honest, if you wait for the voice of your muse to
begin echoing in your ears to write your story, you might never write another
word again. It’s okay to be stuck at your story. But don’t use writer’s block
to justify not getting your writing done. I’ve not worked on stories on a
deadline before and it’s only now I am appreciating the fact that writing is
our job. Would you turn up at your office and tell them you’re feeling
uninspired and couldn’t work that day? Why should writing be any different?
Especially if you are aspiring to be an author?
2. Stop worrying
and keep writing: When you’re
writing the first draft of your novel, it’s far more important to reach your
word count than it is to make sure the manuscript is ready to go off to be
printed. If we all could write produce masterpieces at the first attempt, then
concepts of first draft, second draft, final draft, editing and proofreading
wouldn’t have existed. I had fallen victim to this just this month. Until
someone reminded me, that this torture is something all of us writers subject
us to on a daily basis. It is who we are. And that is why I tell everyone to
take part in NaNoWriMo. A shitty first draft is better than a blank page.
3. Don’t edit,
proofread or get opinions before you finish the first draft: Okay, I have broken this rule a fair few times.
But it was not the best choice. Because it’s an incomplete draft, the beta
readers get confused about what they should give you feedback about. If the
feedback is less than enthusiastic, you tend to lose interest in the whole
story and that’s how half-written manuscripts are born. And no matter how
tempting it is, do not read your manuscript when you’re in the middle of
writing it. You’re not going to be doing yourself any favours. Instead you’re
going to second guess your own writing skills and you’re going to be consumed
with self-doubt. Don’t go down that self-destructive rabbit hole.
4. Protect your
writing time: This one advice that
J.K. Rowling has and I have tried my best to absorb into my life. If you were
working, you’d not let someone interrupt you when had a deadline coming up. Why
should your writing time be any different? In my family, it’s annoying to have
to answer people when I’m in the middle of writing dialog. It’s a step worse in
office, when I am struck by an idea but forced to abandon that as I have to
work on a pending project. As a rule, I only write the stories during my lunch
break. When I get back home it’s only after dinner that I get those glorious
uninterrupted hours of writing. In other words, you’re going to have to learn
to shut out the world when you’re writing. That is the only way you can charge
forward. And don’t feel guilty about it.
5. Reward
Yourself: I watch a lot of
serials and I tell myself that I would only get to watch them when I had
successfully reached my writing goal. Or that I could finally sink my teeth
into that awesome book, when I had finished the current chapter I am writing.
If you know that there’s something at the end of the long, tiring road, you
motivate yourself to work that much harder and reach your goals. And oh, yes,
you must have well defined writing goals from the very start.
And those are the 5
hacks you can bear in mind when you have to be a writer, when every single
thing around you sucks. Being if you are a writer you know in your heart of
hearts that writing is the only thing that keeps you from going absolutely
insane.