My Writing Process: Setting and Accomplishing Goals

Last Sunday, I decided to set myself a goal in regards to my current Work in Progress (WIP): write between 10,000 and 15,000 words.

I prefer to set myself some goals -- whether they be long-term or short-term -- when I attempt to do anything; whether that be writing or reading or work or university or something else entirely. Ultimately, I like to feel the satisfaction of accomplishing something that I set my mind to (sometimes feeling proud of one's self is a rarity, so why not relish in it?). And after this previous week, I am definitely feeling that satisfaction.

The current WIP that I am writing is a young adult science fiction story. I am not writing this story with the hope of someday seeing it published; but instead, I am writing it for a mixture of both fun and practice. I managed to write 15,000 or so words this past week (they are completely unedited, I must add). This means that it now stands at 45,000 words. It has been a very long time since I have written that many words for one project. 

I am very proud of myself right now.

This Upcoming Week's Writing Goal: Write between 5,000 and 10,000 words.

What is your writing goal for this week?

My Writing Process: Slowing Down

I really wish that I could be writing you guys a nice long post about my writing progress this week. But this past week has been incredibly busy. My university workload (i.e. assignments, lectures and meetings) has increased, along with my work hours, leaving me feeling stressed, tired and overworked. Unfortunately, this has drastically affected my writing time. When I come home, I don't feel like writing -- I feel like going to bed. Whilst last week I wrote 22,428 words, I have barely written five thousand this week. At first I was feeling discouraged, but then I realised something.

My creative juices have not died.

This time my lack of writing was not due to a sudden onset of writer's block, but rather due to a lack of time. What this has taught me, though, is that it is okay for your writing progress to slow down. It doesn't matter if you take time off, or that you don't write as many words as you did the previous week. Instead, what matters is that you don't give up and that you simply pick yourself up the following week.

My Writing Goal for This Week is: write between 10,000 - 15,000 words.

What is your writing goal for this week?

My Writing Process: Can You Write For Fun?

Last Sunday, I wrote a blog post discussing how I broke through my writer's block after numerous months of struggling to write a single word. I was very determined to break free of the horrible grasp that my writer's block had on me and finally write peacefully. But I made the mistake of returning to the same story that initially produced my writer's block and after a couple of days it returned with a vengeance. I could not write, no matter how hard I tried. Everything sounded as though a five-year-old had written it. I was incapable of getting into the minds of my characters, to see through their eyes. I was angry -- really angry -- teetering on the edge of giving up. I was desperate, though, to write something, anything, but  I was stuck.

Though, instead of giving up on writing completely and turning off my computer, I decided -- quite spontaneously, I may add -- to write something new. I wanted a new cast of characters to torture develop and new scenes to write. I made the decision to move away from writing young adult fantasy fiction and try something new: young adult science fiction. I have never written in this genre before, but I love anything relating to science fiction (especially Star Trek). For the past five days I have been writing obsessively, only leaving it to re-read The Hunger Games or go to work:

Wednesday, 8th of April: 10,033 words 

Thursday, 9th of April: 3,069 words

Friday, 10th of April: 1,655 words

Saturday, 11th of April: 3,760 words

Sunday, 12th of April: 3,911 words

Total: 22,428 words

Before anyone questions how in the world I have written this many words in five days, let me tell you that this is completely unedited. I have, instead, spent the past five days writing furiously, trying to get all my ideas down. This is because I am pantser, not a plotter. Honestly, it is a little all over the place at the moment, though I do love my protagonist, but that isn't the point of this little writing venture. This novel isn't about getting it perfect or published, it is about practicing my craft and finding my passion for writing all over again -- like a married couple, trying desperately to reignite their spark.

I think that there is often this unfair misconception in the writing community that everything that they write has to be worthy of publication and that the only thing they should be striving for is seeing their work become bestsellers. They shouldn't be writing something for fun or practice. I remember, in fact, reading this thread on Absolute Write a couple of weeks ago about 'being a real writer'. One of the points was: "you're not a real writer when you treat your manuscript as writing practice." I would like to point out that this is not true. In order to be a 'real' writer, you must be writing. It doesn't matter whether or not you are practicing or trying to get published, as long as you are writing, you are a writer.

It is often forgotten that you need to love what you are doing. After months, and months, of being consumed by writer's block I feel like I have almost lost that passion entirely. Writing slowly became a chore; it wasn't fun anymore. But I have almost found that love and passion again -- our sparked reignited -- by simply turning off my inner editor and focusing not on perfection, but rather practice and fun. So yes, you can write for fun.

What do you think? Can you write for fun? Or is it a waste of time? Should you instead be focusing on writing something for publication?

My Writing Process: Breaking Through My Writer's Block

This past week I have been stuck in the same repetitive routine: I open up my new word document whilst laying in bed -- planning, of course, to write the next best selling novel -- and... nothing. Instead, I find myself staring blankly at my laptop screen, contemplating why I have even attempted to become a writer in the first place. I write a sentence, maybe two, only to end up pressing the backspace button in frustration. Ever day, seven days in a row, I have sat in front of a blank laptop screen after months of not writing a word, asking myself one simple question: why has this process, a process that I love and am passionate about, become so damn hard? Perhaps... perhaps I have lost my writing mojo...

I blame the writer's block on the amount of stress I have involuntarily accumulated due to a sudden increase in work hours and trying to finish my assignments for university in time. I want to write, I strive to be writing. But the act of sitting down and writing has become so extremely foreign to me after spending months and months with a case of bad writer's block. However, ever since my venture back into writing, I have been determined to break through my writer's block and actually spend some time writing.

And finally, I did. I wrote. Can I hear a boo-yeah?!

Last night I was alone in my bedroom, listening to some of my favourite Angus and Julia Stone songs, and suddenly an idea hit me. I have been struggling the most with how to re-write my novel for months -- seriously, first chapters are the worst -- and finally I was struck with an idea that caused me to practically jump off my bed, grab my laptop and spend the rest of the night writing. I managed to write the first chapter without stopping to edit, and began the second. I would, however, like to sadly admit that it was probably the worst piece of writing I have ever done, but hey, I wrote an entire chapter. How? Because I turned off my inner editor, who is both overwhelming and bossy, and decided to simply write without worrying about sentence structure or grammar, and instead focus entirely on getting my ideas down.

I am very excited to share with you some more of my writing process in the future, but in the meantime, if you are battling your own case of writer's block, here are some tips on how to defeat it:

1. Calm down, listen to some music and forget: 

Keyword: forget. Or, just simply, clear your mind. This time round what developed my writer's block was an insane amount of stress. In order to successfully battle my writer's block I had to calm down and relax. Personally, I find the best way to defeat it is listen to calming music, like Angus and Julia Stone or The Jezebels, and letting my mind forget about everyday life and stress.

2. Work on your characters: 

Sometimes, by just working on your characters (creating character profiles, writing short stories, casting your characters with actors/actresses/models, interviewing them, etc.) you can learn so much more about them and perhaps, consequently, discover a completely new avenue to explore in your novel.

3. Read: 

Taking a break from your work and immersing yourself in somebody else's is a wonderful way that I find to fight my writer's block. However, it is important to make sure that when you come back to your own work that you don't allow another author's work slip into your own.