I'm going to recommend a good source of encouragement, especially when it comes to writing. Do the thing! Even if you aren't moved to post, I think perhaps reading some of the comments and some of the encouragements about other folks & their writing struggles might help?
Thanks. I have it bookmarked and will check it out. I will take all of the encouragement I can get right now, and it seems to be a theme in what everyone is suggesting: find a writers group, a few friends, whatever and write and get feedback. That is EXACTLY what writing fic did for me years and years ago, so I don't know why this should come as a surprise. :)
if you want advice, here's mine: pick a reward/bribe. promise yourself something nice if you write x minutes every day for z days. a little something for a week, a medium something for a month, and a big something for completing a full story.
if you don't want advice, here's tons of hugs and support. (and sympathy; both winglets are busy writing very interesting stories. wing2 wrote a 100k fanfic that is being translated into two languages, even.)
*hugs* I go through cycles of this too - and I don't even have the degree afterward :( you've been busy with writing that has a lot of weight in it, writing intended to be judged by an audience, writing for the purpose of earning the degree, conforming to what the professors expect of you. It's like you've been sitting in one position for too long - there are some pops and creaks and pins and needles when you finally get to stretch.
It isn't pleasant, but it's healthier than staying crunched up into a ball.
You can try getting a cheap pen and scrap paper and just writing something that doesn't matter in the two or five minutes between finishing something and starting another, just to see what writing feels like with zero expectations attached.
Sorry for a random person popping in, but this did hit a very familiar note...
I don't know if you're actively teaching at the moment, but that might be one of the reasons for the situation. Teaching drains a lot of creative energy from other areas, even if it's only about coming up with theoretical lesson outlines and drafts. It's something a lot of my colleagues struggle with - we are a group of writers in my school, and most of us only really manage to write in the holidays. It's not so much a lack of time, but all the creativity ends up in other channels. It's not necessarily a bad thing (the creativity is still there, it's just somewhere else), but it's sometimes a very frustrating situation.
Little things like a daily word challenge or just having another writer to cheer you on and vice versa can help. It works for me, but it's obviously not a one-shoe-fits-all situation.
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if you want advice, here's mine: pick a reward/bribe. promise yourself something nice if you write x minutes every day for z days. a little something for a week, a medium something for a month, and a big something for completing a full story.
if you don't want advice, here's tons of hugs and support. (and sympathy; both winglets are busy writing very interesting stories. wing2 wrote a 100k fanfic that is being translated into two languages, even.)
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*blinks* Fanfic being translated? That happens? Wow.
Thanks, Wing. :) The reward/bribe is a good idea. I'll have to think about something I could use for that. And I really appreciate the hugs.
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I haven't read it but Dr. Pretentious did and reviewed it, and other than her not liking romance genre, she thought it was a good book.
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I go through cycles of this too - and I don't even have the degree afterward :( you've been busy with writing that has a lot of weight in it, writing intended to be judged by an audience, writing for the purpose of earning the degree, conforming to what the professors expect of you. It's like you've been sitting in one position for too long - there are some pops and creaks and pins and needles when you finally get to stretch.
It isn't pleasant, but it's healthier than staying crunched up into a ball.
You can try getting a cheap pen and scrap paper and just writing something that doesn't matter in the two or five minutes between finishing something and starting another, just to see what writing feels like with zero expectations attached.
Reply
I don't know if you're actively teaching at the moment, but that might be one of the reasons for the situation. Teaching drains a lot of creative energy from other areas, even if it's only about coming up with theoretical lesson outlines and drafts. It's something a lot of my colleagues struggle with - we are a group of writers in my school, and most of us only really manage to write in the holidays. It's not so much a lack of time, but all the creativity ends up in other channels. It's not necessarily a bad thing (the creativity is still there, it's just somewhere else), but it's sometimes a very frustrating situation.
Little things like a daily word challenge or just having another writer to cheer you on and vice versa can help. It works for me, but it's obviously not a one-shoe-fits-all situation.
Reply
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