I Complain Too Much

WRITING ADVICE (2)

Here we are again, with another writing advice chapter, because why the hell not? Let's have something light-hearted and useful for a change, in all the madness. Of course, I hope you're all keeping yourselves safe and everything, and I want you to know that you're not alone if you're worried. We're in this together. 

Anyway. This chapter isn't about that. We're here to discuss techniques, ideas, whatever else. And hopefully, something I say will be helpful and will give you the info you need to write or to create whatever your creativity calls for. 

I'll go through the questions in the order they were asked, because that makes the most sense. We start with @TheGayBrit, who's asked a few questions, the first being: 'How do you get over writer's block?'. 

Ah, writer's block, the creative nightmare that causes us all to suffer. The bane of our existence. The honest solution to writer's block, for me at least, is to take a step back from whatever device you're working with, and do something else for a few minutes. If you try to force your brain to work, nothing will happen. You'll just get frustrated and lose confidence and motivation. 

Find a piece of music that works for you, and use that as a building block. For me, orchestral covers and classical music can be quite useful. I often use The Piano Guys, MDP, and an album from an Icelandic composer called 'and they have escaped the weight of darkness'. It's by a guy called 'Olafur Arnalds', I think. I don't know how to do the symbol things but if you type that into YouTube it should come up. 

Obviously, different things will work for different people. It's about exploring your own options, deciding what kind of art inspires you, and then working from there. Some people might find it easier to listen to rock music, or maybe even look at some visual art. Watch your favourite gamer or YouTuber, and come back when you're ready. That might work, since your unconscious is going over everything in the back of your mind. It could be that the solution comes to you as you're doing something else. 

It can be very stressful, as maybe people don't have the time or resources to do that. And I completely understand that. It's not easy to say 'oh this isn't working, maybe I'm not in the right frame of mind at the moment'. It's sometimes natural to try and force it. But trust me, I speak from years of experience when I say that it doesn't work. Forcing your brain to do something that it already won't is just gonna make you feel like shit. 

Next question. 'How do you stop procrastination?'. The short answer is that you don't. 

We're built to wander around wondering what else we can do. We're  built to procrastinate from something that's difficult. Especially something that we're not used to doing. I always think that procrastination isn't a sign of laziness or inability, it's just a sign that the brain isn't up for whatever you're trying to do. If you find yourself trying to write and wandering off to do something else, stick some headphones in and really lose yourself in the melodies. It's basically the same advice as before I'm afraid. 

I find that once I get to things that are engaging, instead of the filler shit, it's much easier to find that flow and stick with it. Maybe you might end up with some typos, some grammar mistakes, whatever, but that's why I write ahead of myself. To avoid letting writer's block impact my schedule, and to ensure that if it does hit, I don't need to panic about it. 

Another thing that I think is useful is having more than one narrative at once. It's much easier to go 'oh yes I'm not in the mood to write this book but I could do something a little less serious right now' and not feel like you're cheating on the plot you had planned. That's what oneshots are for. Messing around and getting into the Writing Zone. 

Next question. 'How do you write so much?'. 

Put simply, I don't focus too much on the word count as long as I get over a certain amount. If you're writing something that you're truly engaged in, you'll write more automatically. I'm willing to bet that most of us could talk about BTS for hours on end but ourselves for a minute. That's precisely the same thing.