I can relate so well to the frustration Christian singer-songwriter Nichole Nordeman describes in the Foreward; not sure if it's in your edition or not, but she talks about being forced to write at a time when she was incredibly uninspired and this book making the difference in getting her real creative juices flowing again.
Deadlines have always stressed me out. Then again, they've also kept me going. I always seem to manage when it's an essay for school or a certain number of reviews or a newspaper article, though I do a fair bit of fretting. But writing stories, poems and that kind of thing gives me a lot more trouble, and if it's a self-imposed deadline, chances are I just let it slide, since I can't seem to stick with it, especially if it's one long project, such as a novel, rather than a collection of several short projects, like my self-imposed parody challenge. I finished that, but I've got a book I started wriitng about five years ago that's nowhere near completion. It's got a few chapters but no sense of direction, and I've been totally stalled on it for a year or two.
What do you do to defeat writer's block? At what point do you decide that a particular project just isn't going anywhere? And do you find you write more effectively when a deadline is imposed upon you by others or when you set your own? I'm really ready to tackle some poetry and fiction again. Hopefully Walking on Water will help me to get my juices flowing too!
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No, I don't have that particular foreword in my edition...like I mentioned, my copy is pretty old (it might even be a first edition, though I'm not positive). Sounds like a good foreword though, and I hope along with you that this book inspires your creative juices...and mine too!
Oy, writer's block. I'm not sure I really get actual writer's block ONCE I'm writing :-) it's the starting I seem to have a problem with these days. I actually love revisions, the cleaning and tidying up work that comes after the work of the first draft, but I'm finding first drafts harder to come by. I think that's because I've always been the kind of writer who throws herself into something and then tends to lose herself in it, for long stretches of time, and...well, I don't have any long stretches of time I feel like I can commit to that process right now. Sigh.
But I do have stories that I've started and never finished, including some I'd love to get back to. And one short story in particular, that I wrote about twelve years ago, keeps nagging at me. I did finish it (I think I even submitted it somewhere) but somehow it's been begging for me to get back to it and rework it. I actually started a sequel to it about a decade ago, but I quickly realized it was turning into a novel and I ended up abandoning it after two or three scenes. I actually still sometimes dream about the main characters though, or at least find myself creating scenes and listening to them talk as I drift off to sleep at night. So I really think I need to get back to that particular story...
Is the book you never finished the one you sent me chapters of a couple of years ago? I'd love to read it again...I wonder if it's still in my email or has been eaten by my overzealous archival thing (which seems to delete emails past a certain age...somewhere there must be a default I need to change). I wonder if it would help if we sent each other some of the old chapters or short stories that we'd like to start working on again? Fresh eyes....
Oh, I forgot to mention deadlines! Yes, I think I am helped by having outside ones imposed, though I complain about them sometimes. :-) Some of the best work I've done I've written for contests or competitions that had a definite deadline and a definite word-count. Limitations seem to inspire my creativity!
I'd be game for that... I actually did sort of finish the one I sent you, though I feel like it needs a major overhaul; it's a Ramona-style story, but I was writing it for my cousin in his early 30s while he was in Iraq. So it's probably way too wordy for its typical audience...
The other is about an older couple inspired by my grandparents. I'd really like to get working on that again. And I'd love to read your story, and any others you might like to pass along!
"Limitations seem to inspire my creativity" - that's just how I usually feel, once I'm done stressing over getting started! And not just time limitations; I always found I did better in writing classes with assignments with a very narrow focus, rather than "Write a poem" or "Write a story" with no additional guidelines. I don't necessarily do well with so many options!
Hmm, let me dig around and see what versions of the story I have that are send-able. It'll probably be next week before I can send it -- I'm in major crunch mode with deadlines right now on a couple of projects. But like you, I'm itching to get back to poetry and stories!
I'd love to see anything you want to send. Are there rough chapters ready on the story about the older couple? Grandparents are so inspirational. I've been thinking about writing something loosely based on mine as well...
I had to laugh over the old "write a poem" or "write a story" assignment. I never was very good at those vague assignments either! I'd much rather have some parameters...
I've been poking about a bit and looking at some writing sites that provide writing prompts, thinking that might help get me writing even in short bursts again!
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