When You Hate Writing

I love being a writer.

Making up characters, worlds, and plots. Having a blog, Facebook, and Twitter where I can connect with other authors. Reading book after book and not getting tired of it. But, sometimes?

Sometimes I really hate writing.

                                                

It's exhausting. The words won't come out right. I'm not sure where the plot goes next.

The above sentences sum up my Saturday and Sunday. The words wouldn't come, and I didn't feel like forcing them. But I had to write. I had a word count goal to meet! So I developed a plan of attack to combat my slump. I did the following:

    1.  A form of physical activity. I'm lucky enough to have a pool so I went swimming. Or more like almost-drowning. Terrible swimmer over here.

                                 

    2.  Fueled up. I ate an awesome, healthy snack. No grabbing the chips and chocolate. Resist!

    3.  Went somewhere new. Usually I'll write in my room or on my front porch, but this weekend I sat on my back porch in a lounge chair overlooking the pool.

    4.  Writing sprints! I put myself on a timer. 15 minute writing sprint and then a 30 minute break. And of course I'd announce the sprints on Twitter. Had to hold myself accountable via the World Wide Web.

By the end of all this, I found myself writing for enjoyment. The 15 minute sprint became 20 minutes, then 25, then 30. My imagination swept me away and immersed me in the world of my WIP. It just took some...encouragement... to get there.

All For Naught

I'm behind on my CampNaNoWriMo word count. That's what happens when you take a three day break.

Woops.

I planned to do some serious catching up last night to the tune of 2k. Did I write that much? Totally. Does it sound good? For a rough draft, yeah. Am I going to keep it? No.

The direction I was trying to take the plot in made no sense. I had my characters trying to get off a train without being seen. They decided to wait until it was moving to crawl out an escape hatch. I got them on top of the train (after a heart-pounding almost fall, of course). Then what? They were stuck! I literally wrote myself into a corner.

                                   

Hello, delete button. Cue throwing self on floor, chucking laptop at wall, and stuffing chocolate in my face. Okay, not really. I wouldn't have minded the chocolate though.

Deleting those 2,000 words wouldn't have been a big deal during a normal month. But July isn't a normal month. It's Camp NaNoWriMo. I have to earn my t-shirt!

At first I wanted to do this:

                                    

But then I realized writing my characters on top of that train had some positives.

  1. I learned where I did not want the plot to go.
  2. I leaned action movies that have characters leaping off moving trains made no sense. (When did they ever?)
  3. Finally, I learned the best direction to take the plot. No daring stunt acts involved.

Sometimes writing in the wrong direction is exactly the thing writers need to get themselves going in the right one. Even if it's totally aggravating and sucks up three hours of your life.

                                  

Trust me.

So worth it.

On a super exciting side-note, my gift card giveaway ended today. The lucky winner is Michelle. Michelle, keep an eye on your email. You'll be getting the gift card shortly.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who participated. Consider connecting with me on other social media. I'll be having more contests in the upcoming months!