One step back, Two steps forward

[Androxine Vortex]

This just happened to me today and I thought I should share it with all of you. I am currently working on two different projects. The one, I was having a lot of trouble with. I had a lot of unanswered questions and unresolved plot issues and every time I tried to think of something I hated it. I spent days trying to think of what to do but the ideas always evaded my grasp. So I decided to give it a rest and come back to it later.

Then I began working on my other project. I took about a two week break from my original project because I became so wrapped up in my new one. I was about to head to work today when I was having car trouble. Luckily there was a bus stop around the corner and I made it in time. While I was on the bus I randomly thought about my first project. I was reminded of the writer's block issue I was having but then I instantly found a solution. I absolutely loved the idea and from that idea came more and more. I sent myself six text messages about my new ideas because I was afraid I would forget even the slightest snippet of detail.

Athletes train hard but then they have to rest the body in order to be in good strength. We do the same thing. We write hard and we need to learn to let our minds rest. There's nothing wrong with taking a break. In fact, I have learned that it really helps. It lets your mind relax and take a breather and then you can go back at whatever problem you were having with vigorous and focused energy. If you just keep straining yourself trying to think of good ideas then chances are it's not going to work (although it can) because you start to get tired, discouraged, annoyed, and it sucks the joy out of your writing.

So pace yourself when you write. Sometimes you have to take a step back, relax and rest, and then you'll feel well, rested and relaxed! Hope this helps

 

[JonSnow]

Well, you can't force inspiration. It comes and goes, and rarely at the right times. I don't think your mind necessarily needs "rest" from thinking. But there are times when it isn't as sharp as other times. I always find that my best ideas come when I'm driving. It pisses my wife off because I walk in the door after work and go straight to my computer before I forget them.

 

[Androxine Vortex]

Well, you can't force inspiration. It comes and goes, and rarely at the right times. I don't think your mind necessarily needs "rest" from thinking. But there are times when it isn't as sharp as other times. I always find that my best ideas come when I'm driving. It pisses my wife off because I walk in the door after work and go straight to my computer before I forget them.

Ha ha. i usually go for a nightly walk or ride my bike and it's usually during those times that I get most of my good ideas.

 

[ShortHair]

Your subconscious will have better ideas than your consciousness ever will. I'll put a problem aside with the expectation that something will bubble up. It always does.

 

[Saigonnus]

I wouldn't really classify that description as a step back, simply a pause in the forward motion. A step back would be having to rewrite a large chunk of the story but either a pause or a step back can always work to trigger forward motion again. I often take breaks from working on one project to work on something else, then once I feel like it; go back to the first project. You can only go on for so long before things tend to stall and either you beat your head against a wall trying to get through... or you just take a break.

 

[Androxine Vortex]

I wouldn't really classify that description as a step back, simply a pause in the forward motion. A step back would be having to rewrite a large chunk of the story but either a pause or a step back can always work to trigger forward motion again. I often take breaks from working on one project to work on something else, then once I feel like it; go back to the first project. You can only go on for so long before things tend to stall and either you beat your head against a wall trying to get through... or you just take a break.

Shut up my title is catchy!

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

Shut up my title is catchy!

And you stole it from Paula Abdul of all people! 8)

 

[Androxine Vortex]

And you stole it from Paula Abdul of all people! 8)

I actually had to Google her, I don't pay any attention whatsoever to celebrities XD

 

[Butterfly]

Your subconscious will have better ideas than your consciousness ever will. I'll put a problem aside with the expectation that something will bubble up. It always does.

And this, is the reason why the advice 'Sleep on it' is thrown about so readily before making any big decisions. It's down to the way the sides of our brains work, the left the creative, the right the logic. The left is more active at night, while we sleep, and when we wake up. The right side is strongest and takes over during the middle of the day. So in theory, the time of day when our ideas flow more readily will be after waking, before sleeping and whilst sleeping. (I read a great article on it somewhere, but I can't find it now).

 

[Addison]

Truer words were never said Androxine. Taking a break is the best way to break Writer's Block.

 

[JCFarnham]

I took a whole month and a bit out from writing my Science fiction novel after last November. I blasted out the first draft for NaNoWriMo and literally didn't touch it until mid January. By the 1st December I was sick of the whole thing. I knew it barely worked as a story let alone novel, and it was about 25,000 words short of publishable length. And so I shelved it.

The current rewrite; Well I'm much much further back in the plot than I was, but in my defense I have since split the book in two, axed a character and found new paths to the end. The break helped, with out it I would have still been tearing my hair out trying to fix a broken psuedo-novel.

Though I also attribute this eureka moment to doing labour on a farm for a month or two. Nothing like a good meanial task to let your creative hemisphere buzz away to itself.