Writing Blog Number 2

20240517 Combatting Writer's Malaise

Combatting Writer's Malaise

Lack of motivation amongst artists became a genuine problem during lockdown. This is the lecture notes from a talk I gave in 2022 to help people get their creativity back. This can be used for any of the arts, by the way.


1. Making Writing Normal
Overall, the best way to get into writing mode is also one of the more difficult. For general, non-professional writing, writing as a hobby that is more than an occasional “thing”, writing needs to become a part of the everyday normal.
         How do we do that?

1) Setting. First, find a place to write. This needs to be somewhere that is set aside for writing and writing alone. It could be anything from a writing desk to a small corner of the kitchen table, a table at the park down the road to a chair under the verandah. But you cannot do anything else there. It is your writing area. That gives it a meaning. And, yes, it should be a place you are comfortable.
         Now, some people actually travel and move around a bit. In this case, their spot can even be the back seat of their car. Make sure you’re comfortable and make sure you don’t sit in the back seat at any other time, but that is perfectly acceptable as a ‘writing spot’. The problem there is that, even at home you need to use the same spot. Of course, the back seat of a car can potentially guarantee a greater degree of solitude. Another alternative is that you have a deck chair that is your “writing chair”. Take it with you. This will come up later, but you do need family support for this, and explaining this to your loved ones could help.

2) Time. Next, set aside time each and every day to write. The same time is important, or same time on weekdays and a different time on weekends. To start with, it only has to be short, say fifteen minutes, but also at the beginning, it does need to be every day. No game-playing, no social media, just writing.
         One extra thing here – do not hide this from your family/people you’re living with. They need to know what you’re doing and why, so they will leave you alone. Oh, turn off your phone to make sure you are not interrupted.

3) Accoutrements. Next, you need to ensure you have stuff to write on/with, and this needs to be organised beforehand. Again, in the beginning, it should be the same thing each time. Computer, laptop, a notebook and pen. But it needs to be the same thing, again for that habit-formation. Also, make sure you have a drink on hand, and, again, if you can do the same thing each time, it does help get into that habit.

This does seem like it’s very basic, but to overcome the mental impasse that many writers go through, going all the way back to the very basics to get back on track is a good first step. This is every art. Playing an instrument, painting, drawing, scrapbooking, knitting, tapestry, sculpture – if anything has fallen by the wayside, then this 3-step back-to-basics approach is a good beginning.
         There is also some discussion over time versus word count. Should you write for 15 minutes or write 300 words? The thing with word count is that if you are struggling, then that could take a lot longer than 15 minutes, and because word count is nebulous time-wise, then it is hard to form the writing habit. Also, a time is easier to apply to other arts.


2. Other Options
There are some other methods to help overcome the malaise, ones that might not interfere with life quite so much.

1) Write for an audience. Tell some-one you are going to write something for them. A poem for a friend’s birthday. A short story for a young relative. An essay on why the Police Academy films are higher art than anything by Jean-Luc Godard for your local film appreciation society. But you need to tell them you are going to do this, so that there is some-one to keep you accountable to force you to complete this one writing task.

2) Set public goals. Much like the previous one, this is making yourself accountable to others. So, tell some-one who is going to be supportive that you are going to write 1000 words this week, and then make sure you show them you have. Weekly goals work best as they are long term enough to give you a chance to work on them without feeling rushed, but not too long that everyone forgets and it falls by the wayside.

3) Use rewards. This is linked, sort of, to the other two. In this case, the goals are personal, but when you complete the goal, you give yourself a reward. Finish a poem, allow yourself a chocolate. Finish a short story, buy a new book. Little things. But this does take a fair bit of discipline to hold off if you don’t make it. However, that does not mean some-one else can’t be involved, giving the reward when you achieve the goal.
         Some people take this one step further and reward others as well. One I was told about was that every chapter finished of the first draft of a novel the writer took his partner out for a meal; when he finished the whole thing, they had a weekend away. Yes, that can be expensive, but it could be anything, not that particular reward. That way you are looking out for some-one else, and your actions will affect them as well.
         Some people see this as using guilt as a motivator. That is possibly true, and so you would have to make the decision if that would work for you.

4) Get out. Getting outside and just seeing some different scenery can rejuvenate the neurons, get them firing. Look at things, take mental notes, let things flow through your mind without focusing or concentrating on anything. Even just leaving the house and sitting in the back corner of the yard, giving yourself a physical change of perspective is something that could help the creativity. If you want, take a notebook with you and make notes. They don’t have to be expansive, but notes are still writing.


3. What To Write
So, then comes the next question – what do I write? Inspiration is more than just making things consistent and creating a habit. So, to start with – write literally anything.
         Getting personal for a second: One thing I did when I was in high school and feeling stressed and not being able to write was that I simply wrote random words on a page. Completely random. Just words. No sentences, just words. If you have set yourself 15 minutes in your “make writing normal” programme, then spend 15 minutes writing words. Do not look for patterns, do not look for anything akin to sense – just write.
         What does it mean? Nothing. That’s the point. It’s just the act of writing. Again, to reinforce this, it’s helping with that habit forming. However, if a pattern does emerge sub-consciously, then go with it.
         There is another level of this which is to write a stream of consciousness piece. In this case, there are sentences used but nothing needs to make sense. You just let everything flow out of you as it comes. Do not read back over what you have written, just write and get it out of your system.
         Quick thing here – if you write something and it goes nowhere, it does not matter. This is because at least you have written something. But I will also say this – keep everything. Do not throw out anything, no matter how bad you think it is or how disappointed you are, because every scrap could come handy later on.
         Okay, other ways to get ideas.

1) Fan-fiction. If a writer is stuck, then take a favourite character and write them into an adventure. Watch TV and pick a character and make something happen to them. Write a poem about them. Write a description of them. Write yourself into a favourite pop culture setting. (My thoughts on fan-fiction: "20240301 An Academic Essay On Fan Fiction" , "20240302 Some Fan Fiction Negatives" , "20240303 Writing Fan Fiction" )

2) Conversation. Listen (eavesdrop, whatever) to some-one’s conversation and then take it where your imagination will let you.

3) Description. Pick something and describe it. Simple, really. It can be a person, a pet, an animal, an inanimate object, something on TV, your own hand – it does not matter. Just write a description.

4) Retell. Pick a familiar story and rewrite it in your own words. It might a fairy tale, the plot of a movie or TV show, a myth or legend, but it should be a story you know well. It is that simple. Afterwards, you can use it for something else, sure, but, again, you don’t have to. Just writing that first retelling is writing.

5) Write a letter. Pick someone you know, someone you don’t, a real person, a fictional character, and write them a letter. Something in the news angering you? Write a letter to the Editor. Something on TV needs praise? Write a letter to the Radio Times. Another common one is to write a letter to your younger self, giving yourself hints and warning them of things to come. By the way, I know it seems obvious, but this letter is not to be sent, it is just writing.

6) Write a review. Seen or read or listened to something recently? Then write a review of it. Why did you/didn’t you like it? What was good about it? What was bad? All the standard sort of review things. Another version of this is writing a fake advertisement for something instead of reviewing it.

7) Write a list. What are your favourite 10 books? Is that too hard – how about 5 or 20? List them and write a sentence or two explaining why you like them. Songs? Albums? Movies? TV shows? Recipes? How about a list of movies starring Tom Selleck you’ve seen and then try to rate them? A list of songs about trees and why they work (or don’t)? Lists are a way of putting your own thoughts down and you also get into the habit of organising if you are one who plots longer works.

8) Plan. Write the plan or story beats for a novel, short story, trilogy of epics. Add things to it. Add sub-stories, side-quests, whatever. You are not necessarily going to write this, but this exercise gets the imagination sparking.

9) Listen to a song. Use the lyrics of a song to base a story on. Rewrite them as a poem. Use the tune and write new lyrics, either parody or serious. Take an instrumental and write lyrics to it. Just base a piece of writing on the music.

10) Write to a picture. Get some-one to select a picture and write something based on it. Literally anything – poem, story, description, impression, anything.

There are also online sites that give writing prompts, visual, aural and written, and that could also help. Also, don’t worry about finding the right words. Just get things down. Second drafts and revisions are for the right words and fiddling with technique.
         Some people I spoke to say that research is something they do as well. I agree, but with the caveat if you are researching, then you cannot just read – you must take notes. No copy-paste, but put what you are researching into your own words. The research can be for a writing project, for a personal interest, for study – literally anything, but to make it a writing task, you need to write and write from your own head.


4. Too Many Ideas
One thing that I have seen is that people feel they have too many ideas and don’t know which one to work on.
         While that may seem to go against the malaise thing, it is something that can happen when people are in a downward spiral – the brain goes into overdrive as it over-compensates. The problem comes with having so many ideas and feeling you have no way of utilising them.
         The issue comes when the artist feels they need to utilise every idea. Especially if there has been a period of no creativity, the ideas can come thick and fast, and they all feel so very good and perfect and you want to work on them all right now.
         However, simply put, you probably won’t be able to use every idea, and you have to accept that. But which ideas do you use? How do you know which ones are going to work? Well, you have no idea.
         So, write every idea down. It might be one word, a sentence, a paragraph, a series of bullet points, a quick sketch. Just get the ideas out of your head onto paper or into a computer. Then come back to them. If you can’t remember what the idea meant, then it probably wasn’t going to work. Otherwise, the ideas are now there and you can work on them at your leisure. Like I said – throw nothing away.
         However, that can be a difficult mind-set. You have to accept that nothing needs to be done “now”, but it is also true that many artists with ideas and inspiration like to work in the now. That’s what creates the issue of over-crowding the mind. It can be hard to let go of the concept that it must be done now, but so long as you have the ideas written down, you can come back to them even years later. If you are comfortable, you can work on more than one, but do not overdo it. It’s not necessary. The ideas, once on paper, are not going to go away.
         What if you don’t use them all? Does it matter? The thing is, writing down just ideas is a form of de-cluttering the mind, which makes creativity flow much easier.

Hope that helps someone out there!