I recently put out a post with a few suggestions on how to beat writer’s block (here). They weren’t all-encompassing or anything, but at least it’s a start.
Today I’m going to continue along the same line with a list of reasons why you (maybe) haven’t finished you manuscript yet and, more importantly, a few ideas on how to get around these stumbling blocks.
Problem: You are being a perfectionist. You write and edit so much that you are taking 3 months to write 200 words, and then you decide to fix them.
- Solution 1: Just WRITE. Pick a set amount of time. A week, a day, three writing sessions, whatever you decided, but during that time you are NOT allowed to edit.
- Solution 2: Take a break from writing. Make an outline. Figure out where you want it to go. Then give yourself a timeline to get it there. THEN you get to go back and edit.
Problem: You can’t find the time to write.
- Solution 1: Take a deep breath. Now, if you are so pressed for time, bookmark this page, and go write. Now. No excuses. Come back in 500 words.
- Solution 2: You know there’s time there… somewhere. If you keep misplacing it, you are probably as distracted as I am. Do you sit down at the computer to write and, two hours later, wonder why you’re reading the news? Then try post-its on the keyboard (“No Internet until you’ve put in 2 hours!”).
- Solution 3: You aren’t working effectively for your life/body/whatever. Sure, getting up early to write sounds good, but if you’re a night owl, it might not work that well. Writing can make you feel like you’re soaring on high, but not if you can’t pry your lifeless body out of bed to do it. Similarly for those who try to fit it in at night, but fall asleep on the keyboard. Adjust accordingly.
- Solution 4: Your research somehow is never done. I don’t know what to do if you’re writing non-fiction, but for everyone else, if you spend 3 times as much time on Wikipedia as typing, then either remember that it’s fiction, and you can make stuff up OR put a note to research stuff at another time and separate your researching and writing time blocks… with a brick wall.
Problem: You’re not sure why, but somehow, you keep not getting it done.
- Solution 1: You might be afraid of failure (or success). If that’s the case, try not to dwell on the outcome. Focus on the road there (“Boy, this character is really a creep! He’s fun to write, but I’m glad I’m never going to have him for a neighbor!”). Then, in your spare time, figure out what’s really bugging you and seek better help than I can give.
- Solution 2: You might be having commitment problems. Yes, you say you want to write that book, but then why does clipping the dog’s nails somehow always make it higher on the priority list? If this is you, then give yourself smaller chunks to do and definitive timelines. Get an accountability buddy. Somebody who will know and look disapprovingly at you if you don’t turn in your work on time (maybe friend your 7th grade English teacher on FB?).
- Solution 3: Are you easily dis tractable? Perhaps you have too many projects going on. Or maybe you are easily bored and need a couple projects to work on simultaneously so when one gets stuck, you can keep the words going with another. Adjust accordingly.
I have (sometime simultaneously) had all of these problems. I’m sure there are more, so feel free to share other problems (and solutions if you’ve got them). Otherwise, I hope y’all find this useful 
First problem; Solution 1 – you could just sign up for nanowrimo and don’t do any editing for a whole month. Very tough.
Yes, it is along that line, but I don’t necessarily think it’s a good idea to force yourself into NOT editing for a whole month. After all, if something goes awry or you need to change something, you shouldn’t have to wait weeks to do it. I’m very good with black & white rules, so I try to make them that way. If I did NaNoWriMo, I’d probably let myself edit once a week.
Hi Shannon,
Great suggestions to common writing problems! I’ve suffered from many of them myself at one time or another.
One thing that I do to prevent wastsing time on the internet when I should be writing is physically unplug my modem. Harsh, but very effective.
I’ve done something similar. I can’t quite get to where my modem is plugged in, but I’ll resort to pen and paper (no internet there!). Although, if I”m at the library, I can waste hours looking for names for places/characters in books…
Guilty guilty guilty. Oh why did you write this today, Shannon. I am feeling the guilt, feeling the desperation. OK, I’m being dramatic to get in the mood, but you know what I mean….I’m out of sorts with my WIP. We are looking at each other with distain and fright. I’m going to book mark and come back and read this again after I have a coffee and read a magazine, watch some TV, garden, sort my sock draw….
Subtlekate – please take a nice slow breath, ok?
Now, if you and your WIP are in a stare-down contest, it’s ok to take a break. I certainly wasn’t going for guilt-factor when I wrote this – just trying to help some of us (me) recognize when we’re being counterproductive. After all, we do EVENTUALLY need to edit, right??
So, deep breath. Now, based on what you wrote, I would suggest trying (from my post 10 ways to beat writer’s block) to write a scene by switching one (or more) character’s genders. Or maybe personalities (the tough dude get’s all “eeek! a mouse! help!” while the shy person walks in and goes, “HEY everybooody! I’m heeere!”). Then, you will hopefully be 1.) back into a groove 2.) know what shouldn’t happen 3.) have a good laugh and 4.) have better defined who/what your characters are and are not.
If all else fails, eat chocolate.
Good luck! Let me know how it goes, ok?
I wrote today. 500 words or there abouts which is not too shabby.
This is the first time I have opened the monster in a very long time.
Excellent! Congrats. That is great!
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Shannon,
Just found your site through your comments on The Collaborative Writer. I was dealing with this just last week. I had finished the third draft of my novel (six years in the making) and was utterly spent. I have a daughter who is 2 and a half and a six month old. I wanted to just flop on the couch or just hang out with them. It is no cake walk to raise a family work full time and try to write!
I had another project in mind and my goal for this year was to have two manuscripts to send in to agencies by fall, but I had no taste for my new project. I had the vision a while back but every time I sat down at the computer it was like forcing myself to eat something I didn’t want to eat.
Then I decided I needed a challenge. That would be the only way to get it done. I decided to post on my blog that I would write 500 words a day for 7 days straight and chronicle it. Afterward, I feel excited about my project and found that precious writers groove. So I guess my way through this was to just sit down and muck it out. The best medicine was to write and write often. I don’t necessarily like what I have down, but I now have a direction to go. The first part and last part of a novel at the most difficult for me!
Great blog. Great post. I’ll be back.
Bob,
I’m glad you like what you found.
I also have small kids (5.5 and 2.5) and, while I’m not gainfully employed, I am CEO, CFO, head of transportation, and nurse-on-call for my household. I would be thrilled to have one manuscript to send out by the end of the year. So, good job at setting your sights high!
It sounds like your challenge worked for you. I had similar success in February, but it wasn’t sustainable (and then everyone got sick at least twice, which I’m still recovering from).
What sort of novel is it, anyway? My partial ms is a fantasy novel of the sort with castles and dragons.
Shannon,
I totally get what you say about kids and them getting sick. That can detail a week or a month or more!
My novel is about a man named Custos who lives in a city like Rome, (it’s called Calelleth) that is isolated from the rest of the world. He is a member of common society (farmer/soldier) and unwillingly becomes protector of the future ruler of the city. Her name is Hailea and through a series of events they discover long forgotten secrets of the city.
As he and Hailea try to unravel a mystery that may shatter their society, they are caught by a member of the city council who wants to keep the secrets hidden. As Custos and Haile face the entire council in a hearing determining their fate, an army shows up on the door steps demanding for their families to be released. The problem is the council of the city and the sage Sapien, know nothing of the outside world, this army, or their lost families.
Can the secrets Hailea and Custos know explain the army’s presence? Will the council members allow this past atrocity to come to surface and perhaps pacify the army and save the city? Or will they continue to keep the secrets hidden and trust in their fate to the feeble and vastly outnumbered Calellethian army to defend them?
…or something like that. I have a terrible elevator pitch as this is the first book of seven and I have written much of the history already and am now building the books off of that. There is just too much in my head to say, it’s about ___!
What is your book about?
Thanks for following my blog!
Sorry for the novelish response!
Oh, novelish responses are the best ones! What, can a writer expect another writer to NOT love to use words? Do we want 1 sentence replies? No! Soooo boring!
Wow. It sounds like you’ve got quite a lot of the world built up.
If you are interested in working on the elevator pitch (which I know absolutely nothing about), I would recommend checking out Jim Butcher’s blog. He doesn’t write often, but if you scroll down, he did a series of entries on his writing process. He gives a few examples of 1 sentence summaries (of, e.g. Lord of the Rings). If you can do 1 sentence, then work it up to maybe ten, you can sorta boil down to the minimalist nuts & bolts and then figure out what the next most important elements are, and go from there. It’s sort of like reverse outlining
Jim Butcher has written a full series and is in the middle of a 20-something book long series, so he’s well established (which is probably why he doesn’t blog much). His blog is at: http://jimbutcher.livejournal.com/
I hope you find it useful. I have, which is why I mention it.
MY book is actually the prequel to the book I want to write, but I need to flesh out a bunch of past history and the words got all stuck when I tried to do it by outline, so I’m writing a freaking prequel book (not paying much attention to style though). It’s high fantasy of the sort with dragons and castles. The prequel (at this point) tells the story of the bad guy, who is a girl. She attempts to avoid having others hold power over her by, of course, trying to get lots of power. This leads to a civil war, a resurgence of magic, a royal lineage conundrum, fractured families (what civil war doesn’t?), and a really unstable aftermath from the civil war. THAT’s when my real book is supposed to take place, but as you can tell, there’s quite a few loose ends there that’ll need to be tied up or at least tracked (at least I need to know enough not to be self-contradictory) before this can happen. So, I’m still world-building, in effect.
I CAN tell you that a baby dragon is involved…
So, I think this reply was longer than my average blog post….
I definitely suffer from the 3rd problem lol
Thanks hon xx
But at least you can lol about it, right?
I know, it’s no fun. If all else fails, write about the problem maybe?
He he he
Xx
I like the first one. Sometimes I feel like that. Three months to write a couple of hundred words. Hmm there have been times when even that would have been acceptable!
Over the last few months the more blogs I read the more I realise you have to WANT to write the story. When I actually sit down and write I can get in the zone and do well. My problem is that I’m easily distracted. I haven’t done much yet this month. Time to step back into the *office* and get some work done. Thanks
I have the distraction problem too. It’s not just my writing that suffers, but everything. It’s, “Oh, I have to send in the dog registration.” Then I get sidetracked because a cat threw up (yuck), then I totally forget about the registration and it gets lost, so I spend an hour looking for it…
That’s just an example, but it’s a uniform waste of time. My brain needs an administrative assistant.
Having a cat is so much fun isn’t it! But I suppose with other pets and kids it’s just one of many distractions.
I like the idea of a brain having an assistant. There’s a story in there somewhere
Yes, it is fun. We have two, and they are part of the distractions.
Brain assistant… hmmm. Yes, definitely a story there.
Shannon-
You forgot one. All of the above.
That was implied. As was, “Any and every possible combination of the above or a subset of the above.”
Fun post, Shannon. When I’m sitting down to write seriously, I only have Microsoft Word open–I don’t open any internet connections, not for Pandora music, nuttin’. Otherwise, when I come to a pause in my narrative, or I’m trying to think about what my characters should say, I am extremely tempted to just “quickly” check my emails. This is very, very, very bad for your book! There is no such thing as “quickly” checking emails, because inevitably you’ll see that people have replied to a post you just put up, or a contest has been announced, or an agent has contacted you, or whatever!
So, if it’s possible for you to not open any Internet connections while you write, you’ll be less likely to flip screens to see what’s happening in blogosphere or in your mailbox. This isn’t 100% foolproof, because ifyou’re determined to read those emails then you’re going to read them. But the extra step that it would take to open up that internet connection might give you enough pause to realize, no it’s time to write, emails can wait for another hour.
I also believe in the power of habit. If you can just find one block of time in the day, every day, where you can solely write (even for 15 minutes) you are more likely to stick to it than if you write at random times from day to day, or if you skip days. It takes about 20 days or something to make a habit, so this would require some thought, planning, but if you really mapped out your days you would see where that 15 minutes or whatever chunk it might be would fit every day.
Kate,
I wish I could develop a habit. I’m afraid I even have to remember to breathe. Ok, it’s not quite THAT bad, but still. I’m a very unscheduled person. But I like the *idea* of order. I think that will help when the kids get older, but it’s gonna take awhile to get there.
I think you hit on something there with the thought, “if your determined to read those emails…”
The question is *why* are we so determined to do these things when, in theory at least, we really want to be working on our book.