A friend of mine bought me some crayons and I used them to keep me sitting down. When I didn't know what on earth I was supposed to do next, I would use the crayons to write something in the wood of the loft that surrounded me. Some examples:
I'm stuck
This is a complicated problem
Rosie bought me crayons
Poofy Blue Coat
It is necessary to respect one's belief in God, but only in the same sense and to the extent that it is necessary to respect one's theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart
That last one took up almost an entire cross-board, with the handwriting getting smaller as it neared the end.
By writing in the wood around me, I was able to remain in the chair long enough to work through problems that may have otherwise signaled the end of the day's writing.
How do we stay in the chair?
I miss smoking the most when I'm stuck in the middle of a script. I used to take long drags of the cigarette while I stared at the screen. I would stop with a problem and have a cigarette with it. Staring at the blinking cursor while blowing smoke rings felt productive. Yeah, I was stuck, but I was doing something.
Now, without cigarettes, without my loft, I struggle for the discipline to stay in the chair. I have, what would appear to be a much better setup, a whole room dedicated to the purpose of writing. But it's too sunny and it's too hot and occasionally it smells like meat. I've tried to replicate the writing on the loft with notecards but it feels forced. The television is always calling my name. I can't tell if I like my chair anymore. I have new desk that I'm growing to hate. I have severe desk envy. Every desk I see looks like the desk I need to finish the script.
I am constantly thinking "If I only I had (insert anything), then I would be able to finish this sucker."
Is this something everyone struggles with, or am I alone? How do you work through it?
Posts
You are alone.
ReplyDeleteJust kidding.
I never get anything done at home. I do most of my writing at my stupid temp jobs. I've always been really productive when I know I'm supposed to be doing something else. For every minute I spend performing asinine tasks, I spend a minute writing in my notebook, scribbling dialogue ideas or whatever.
When I'm at home I feel little pressure to do anything. There's less urgency. Also, I don't have a desk, so either I write while sitting on my bed or while sitting on the sofa in front of the TV. Now that I think about it, sitting on cushy furniture items doesn't really lend itself to productivity. Maybe I should try sitting on the floor.
Another thing that helps is money. It provides incentive in a way that nothing else can. That's one thing I've learned. No matter where you are, you can't fake incentive.
Wow. I can't believe I'm leaving a comment on someone's blog. But, I care for your happiness, I guess.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I'm writing, I get all those symptoms when I've lost track of the question I was trying to ask by writing the play in the first place. Everything I think about is the HOW. How do I finish the play? How do I get this point across? How come I can't be inspired in this situation? How come it isn't clear anymore?
This is cheesy, but replace the HOW with a WHY. Why do I need to write this play? Why is this necessary for me to get this point across? Why am I writing this particular story? Or perhaps, not how do I avoid being stuck, but why am I indulging in being stuck?
Something about the WHY ignites "incentive" or purpose to write more. I think the how forces you to think about the symptoms of your block and the why will help you get at the core of the issue.
It's a little introverted, but anything to help a friend.
Money helps too.
And pools. And boats.
Why must I tell this story? It will ignite something, I hope.
j.
Another idea: write something crappy. I'm not kidding.
ReplyDeleteWriting is pretty much a process of elimination anwyay. I spend a ton of time figuring out what I don't want to say and what I do want to say is usually the result of all that figuring. Plus, I tend to think my first pass at anything is crappy anyway. May as well embrace it.
So when I'm stuck I'll just write any ol' crap and it usually gives me something to steer toward or (more likely) away from. It's something, you know? And at the very least you can say to yourself, "Well, I know it's not that."
Crappy ideas often give rise to good ones.