R is for Redirect

A few years ago, I took a writing class taught by a guy who wrote teleplays. He worked on cop dramas and was quite successful despite the grueling demand for 20-26 episodes all requiring a fully formed story.

One thing he used to say was that there was no such thing as 'Writer's Block', just wrong turns. He said that if you are stuck in a story, or novel, or play...that the best thing to do is to go back to the section where things were flowing. Redirect your thoughts from making it work…to finding out why its not.

When did the writing transition easily from head to hands to paper? What scene were you writing when you were in, 'The Zone'? Chances are, the very next section is where you went wrong.

I took his advice with a grain of salt. After all, he only wrote hour-long episodes and I wrote 400+ pages...yet I've found through several books, that his advice was sound. Whenever I get stuck I go back to when it was good, and I usually find a misstep right after.

Did the hero and heroine reconcile too quickly? Was the dialogue unfinished...or revealed too much too soon? Did the decision to kill off a character or push them into the background hurt the flow? How about the characters, did I write them against personality or motivation and their actions don’t ring true?

Another trick he gave to us was to redirect our thoughts by working on something completely different. I usually have two or more novels in varying stages going at the same time. Sometimes all it takes is to redirect my conscious gears on one thing so that my subconscious percolates.

What about you? Do you have any tricks for redirecting a project that is stuck or feels wrong? I’d love to hear about it. Until next time…Go Write!

Photograph by Dano, Uploaded on September 11, 2006.

Procrastination is opportunity’s assassin. ~Victor Kiam

In a Dance With Time
Originally uploaded by it's life.

One of the hardest things to do is to motivate myself to write when it’s late at night and I’m tired. I find that if the task ahead is daunting or boring, I develop sudden addiction to the random article button on Wikipedia. My husband is the best procrastinator I have ever seen. He raises the bar in our house. I once saw him peek over a pile of ungraded tests to tell me that I just had to take a look at the graph on the computer showing the difference in deforestation rate in Haiti versus The Dominican Republic…he was serious.

Because writing is a solitary task, and I don’t have a publisher’s deadline looming, it’s sometimes hard to get my hind-quarters in gear. In light of this, I decided to ask people what they did to help curb the procrastination urge. Not just other writers, but people in general. They had some helpful advice. Now, I know that not everyone who reads this blog is a writer, but the tricks I learned are helpful for any task.

First, we need to recognize why we do it. Common reasons we avoid are the fear of failure, or the need to be perfect. But sometimes life gets all of our attention and we forget to carve out time. My favorite reason is that I’m constantly rewarding myself to do so. If I don’t work on my book, I can watch my favorite show or go meet a friend for coffee. I usually write at night after the kids are asleep, so sleep is a pretty good enticement to put off writing.

Second, we need to recognize the things we do to put off our task. Do you pretend it doesn’t exist, or convince yourself you can’t function in such a cluttered space? How about setting unrealistic stretches of time…in most instances, you don’t in fact need an entire day to do your task.

Third, we overcome these stumbling blocks with some simple tricks.
• Leave out your work. It’s a great reminder. This way, I have to see my papers, research notebooks, and plot blocks every time I pass by my desk.
• Set a reasonable goal. I can’t finish my entire book in one sitting, but I can do a chapter, or a scene. I often set page goals.
• Avoid distractions. I am a notorious web crawler. So I make sure NOT to open my browser when I’m supposed to be writing. If I need to look something up, I write it down and do research later.
• Have a deadline/appointed nagger. I meet with my writing circle every other week and we require two to three chapters. This is highly motivating. I’m accountable to someone taking time out of their day to meet with me. I want to be prepared.
• Understand that there are consequences either way. If I put things off, I will have a nagging feeling in my gut. I’ll get stressed because I know I should be further along in my work. On the other hand, consequences to not putting it off are relief. I feel accomplished and hopeful. I get ice cream.

Putting these tips into action helps me to stay on task. What are you tricks to combat procrastination? Let me know. Until then…Get To Work!