When "Just Write" Is Not Enough

[Philip Overby]

Saw this interesting article that I would be worth checking out.
When just write is not enough | Em's place

It basically addresses the advice to "Just write" isn't as easy as some people make it out to be. It's about overcoming fears, finding the roots of those fears, and trying to find out why you're not finishing anything.

For me, I've had issues with the following:

1. Fear of rejection
2. Procrastination
3. Fear of being ostracized
4. Perfectionism
5. Comparing myself to others
6. Laziness
7. Boredom
8. Malaise

I'm sure there are others. Thankfully, I feel like I'm leaving this behind more and more. One thing that's great about this community is that we can share not only our failures and stumbles, but overcoming them and sharing successes as well. Most of these problems I've listed have little or nothing to do with the actual writing. It has more to do with psychology.

So it's worth checking out the article if you think you've had numerous problems in the past. I agree, "Just write" can be both the worst and best advice at any given time. Thoughts?

 

[Motley]

I'm full of fear over my writing, so I read this article with interest.

What it came down to though, even when she said it didn't, was 'Just write."

Instead of worrying about the fear of failure (or success) or any number of other things, you just have the words forming sentences etc. Just write.

I think anyone who is scared of something as it pertains to writing can recognize that. Perhaps years of therapy will help, but, if you want to get something written, you have to do it despite the fear. Or write a memoir after all the therapy is done.

 

[Svrtnsse]

I think that least some of the issues you list can be circumvented by the advice "write something else".
At least for aspiring writers, those who haven't really started yet, I think this may be good advice. The idea is that if you pick another story and write that first you'll get some practice to get you going. You'll also have your big masterpiece you're planning tucked away safely in your mind and you have a little practice-story you don't really care about to warm you up before you begin.

The main reason I think this is good advice is that it's what I'm doing and it's working out great for me. I've learned all kinds of thing I had no idea I needed to learn, and I'm happily making mistakes and messing things up because it's not really all that important.
At least that's how I started out.
One of the things I've learned is that even if I didn't much care about the story or my MC when I began, they've grown on me now. That too, I think is an important lesson.

 

[Chessie]

I always worry that my ideas are stupid. That's what staggers me the most. I'll go back through my ideas again and again and have a difficult time grounding down because nothing is good enough. I'm working on that.

 

[Penpilot]

I always worry that my ideas are stupid. That's what staggers me the most. I'll go back through my ideas again and again and have a difficult time grounding down because nothing is good enough. I'm working on that.

If you really think about the basics of a story, I think most stories will sound kind of stupid. Just have confidence that with each story, you'll get a little better. Thinking along those lines has helped me quite a lot.

 

[yachtcaptcolby]

You won't know what you can do if you don't try because your fears paralyzed you. Even if something doesn't turn out as "good" as you were hoping, it's still productive in the long run if you learned something from it.

 

[GeekDavid]

You won't know what you can do if you don't try because your fears paralyzed you. Even if something doesn't turn out as "good" as you were hoping, it's still productive in the long run if you learned something from it.

I've shared this story before, but they say that Edison tried over a hundred things when he was working on the light bulb. Someone asked him how it felt to fail over a hundred times.

"I haven't failed once," Edison responded." I've discovered a hundred things that won't work."

Look at writing that way.

 

[Feo Takahari]

For me, what helps is to know that I have someone to share the story with, someone who can tell me not just whether it sucks, but why it sucks and how to improve it. If I'm spending a week trying to get through one scene, I can write it out as a sort of placeholder, and when the story's finished, I can flag it as a point of potential suckage and ask for advice on it.

On the other hand, I had someone else edit one story that I thought had a lot of promise. He skimmed it and told me it was okay. I posted it, and readers thought it was completely incomprehensible. That was embarrassing, to say the least.

 

[Svrtnsse]

For me, what helps is to know that I have someone to share the story with, [...]

This is actually a pretty big deal for me as well. Whenever I finish a scene I upload it on my wiki and post about it on my personal Facebook page. One or two people click "like" on the link and every now and then I bump into someone who asks how the writing's going and mention that they've thought about trying to read some of it.
I think one or two people might actually click the link, but I doubt anyone actually keeps up with the story. That doesn't much matter though. What's important is that I'm taking the step to put my stuff out there. It motivates me to keep going, to get things done and to try and put something good out.

I don't think anyone will notice or be upset if I stop posting my links or if I stop writing my story. But I know that I will be. By putting my stuff up for everyone to read I've made the commitment to finish what I've started or else I'll have failed. If no one knew I was doing this it wouldn't matter, but now that it's there, I can't fail in public.

 

[wordwalker]

Several good thoughts in it, including

Perfectionism is the Fear’s favourite coat.

--A keeper.

I wouldn't say it all comes down to fear, but the stuff does get tangled up in different related problems.

And, here's a friend's piece on one way to diagnose just where fear hurts us: Fearless « The Wild Writers

 

[Helen]

I also don't think "Just write" is enough.

But I don't think it's about fear.

I think it's about knowing what you're doing and where you're going, before you write. Else it's just pages and pages of random stuff.

 

[Philip Overby]

I think that has a lot to do with it, too. Knowing where you're going is pretty important. But for some fear ties into that as well. If your novel isn't going anywhere, you have that fear that you're never going to finish it because nothing seems to work.

 

[skip.knox]

The word "fear" is getting used in more than one context here. I may fear the scene I just wrote is lousy and will need to be re-written. I may fear that when I show my work to others, they will laugh at me. These are two different kinds of fear. One is a worry, but is rarely debilitating. The other can stop a person from even trying.

It's also possible for fears to come and go, inexplicably and only half-sensed. I, for one, am not very good at measuring my own emotional barometer. I can think things are going well when worries nag at me, and I can fret when in fact I'm making good progress. The problem I have with all advice columns is that they speak to me as if I'm clear-eyed and steady-handed in these matters when in fact I'm about as adept in managing my own psychological state as Derek Zoolander was with a computer. (just re-watched that movie)

So, thanks for the helpful advice, original article, but I'm sticking with my plan. It's entitled "charge ahead in the dark while fumbling for matches and yelling for help."

 

[Mythopoet]

So, thanks for the helpful advice, original article, but I'm sticking with my plan. It's entitled "charge ahead in the dark while fumbling for matches and yelling for help."

I think the point of the article is that if you're capable of charging ahead, of "just doing it", then she's not talking about you. She's talking about those of us who can't... because of the fear.

Personally, I suffer from strong anxiety for which I take medication. The medication takes the edge off of the perpetual gnawing worry, but it doesn't take it away. I am perfectly capable of rationally analyzing my fears and anxieties. I know that my anxieties aren't rational. I can look at them and know all this and still suffer just as much because all my logic has absolutely no effect on the way my mind and body reacts. I can't control the anxiety. So for people like me saying "just write" is a bit like telling a thirsty man in the desert to "just drink".

Of course, for people like me the article's advice isn't much good either. I can't negotiate with the fear. But I'm sure there are a lot of people out there somewhere on the spectrum between "just write" and where I am who can get a lot out of the post. A lot of people out there, including writers, tend to dole out advice thinking that it will apply equally for everyone but that's just not true.

I've never seen a piece of advice about productivity that was able to help me. The only things that get me to sit down and write are white hot passion for the story or my husband nagging me about it because he loves me and he knows I need it sometimes.

 

[skip.knox]

@Mythopoet: have you tried NaNoWriMo or similar? Or the many writing challenges on forums?

Nobody "gets over" fear. It's a bit like an actor with stage fright--eventually, if you do it enough, you develop coping techniques. I'm a history professor and I vividly recall the first time I taught. I was a Teaching Assistant, which at my school meant the professor lectured four days a week and the TA ran a discussion class one day.

I was fully prepared for that first day. Wasn't nervous at all. I was walking down the hall to the classroom, ready to go, when a thought hit me. Despite all my preparation, I didn't know what would be the first words out of my mouth. Hello? My name? And wham! I was headed to the bathroom. I spare you the gruesome details.

For years, literally years afterward, that happened to me. Initially it was every time I taught. After a while, it happened only on the first day of the semester. I got to where I knew it was going to happen. There wasn't a damn thing I could do about it except to know it was going to happen. I don't know how many years went by, but eventually all I got was flutters on the first day, and that was all. But it took time after time after time before I got there.

I know this isn't about writing, but it is about that utterly non-rational and uncontrollable side of ourselves that strikes out of the bloody blue, and no amount of rational advice is going to help one little bit. There may be no way to win, but the only way to lose is to give up.

 

[wordwalker]

There may be no way to win, but the only way to lose is to give up.

Welcome to my quotes file, Skip.

And, a truly a good story.

 

[skip.knox]

Welcome to my quotes file, Skip.

Awesome. 21st century immortality = living in someone's quote file.