Diagnosing & Treating Your Writing Woes

Trust me, I'm a doctor. (Ed. note: I am absolutely not a doctor)

Photo by Martin Neuhold on Unsplash

Hey NYC friends, feeling literary? Please join me at one of these book launch events in March: 3/19 @ P&T Knitwear with Ada Calhoun and/or 3/20 @ Books Are Magic with

Emily Schultz

!

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I see a lot of patterns when it comes to stuck writers and their writing woes (incredibly distracting news cycles notwithstanding), so I thought I would share this Very Scientific and Medically Sound diagnostic tool, in case it is useful for lodging something loose:

Writing Woe #1: You have the vague idea that you’d like to write, but it never seems to happen.

RX: Journal for 10 minutes a day.

You can find 10 minutes a day. I know you can. If it ends up being more, that’s great. But it doesn’t have to be. Freewrite; make a list; describe your day or don’t. Record what you notice about the world today. Describe the room you’re in. Write about how it feels to be you right now, today. (You can join my weekly journaling class, if you’d like to do this with some company!)

Trust me when I say that if you write something, you will stop ruminating on what you should write. The “should” will present itself. The story will bubble up. The obsession will dance across the page.

You can even use this as a place to manifest your desires for your writing life! Sure, it sounds cheesy when I say it, but what about when Octavia Butler actually does it? Then it’s awesome, is it not? »

Octavia Butler’s Journal, SHOWING US ALL HOW IT IS DONE

Writing Woe #2: You love to write, but you never seem to be able to finish things.

RX: Take a writing workshop. (Maybe here? Or here? Or somewhere else?) There is nothing like a classroom full of other writers and a deadline from an instructor to help a writer get motivated. Maybe that first draft is hastily produced, finished only in name, shared in a panic two days after the deadline (I teach a lot of workshops, I see you!) — but guess what? Even if your classmates’ feedback doesn’t completely clarify how to polish and complete your piece, hearing people talk about the piece will clarify a lot in your mind. Plus, you will gain (or regain) useful language for analyzing story and language and structure. All of this will help you get better about finishing things.

Writing Woe #3: You took the workshop like I told you do, but you still can’t seem to finish things without immediate deadlines. And now you’re mad at me, did I lie to you or what?

RX: Accountability buddy time. Enlist a friend or writing group to exchange work with, or hire a writing coach to meet with regularly. Chances are, you’ve relegated writing as something that is important but not urgent. Deadlines help make it urgent, giving it a chance to rise above other boringer things on the to-do list.

Writing Woe #4: You want to get to work on a book or some other longer project, but life keeps getting in the way.

RX: Get out of life’s way. Writing retreats and residencies can be immeasurably helpful for this. Even just a weekend outside of your regular life and the aforementioned to-do list and having to think about meal-planning and all the things, can really be brain-changing. Like how about this one, in Poconos this spring:

Writing Woe #4.5: You want to get to work on a book or some other longer project, but life keeps getting in the way. And no, you can’t go on a retreat, what am I, crazy?

RX: Well in that case you’re going to have to take it slow. You’re going to have to both hold yourself accountable to do what you need to do, and also be forgiving of yourself for the times when all you can do is get through the day. You’re going to have to remember that books take a long time, and that writing one is never a straight line. It’s never one draft. It’s hardly ever even one writing routine. You’re going to have to think about what makes you want to write this book. Why won’t this idea or story let you go, even though you keep telling it, not now there is simply no time? (From Sheila Ballantyne’s great novel Norma Jean the Termite Queen, about an artist mother with small children: "I can’t wait fifteen years to do my work: Because my ideas are coming now.”) You’re going to have to ask the book what it wants and needs and actually listen when it tells you. You’re going to have to get off the internet and definitely stop reading about other writers’ accomplishments and comparing yourself to anyone else — that’s not how it works. You’re going to have to access what feeds you creatively: seeing a starry night; spending an hour alone with a painting; going dancing/having sex/getting high (look I don’t know what works for you); going to a chaotic used bookstore and discovering a book you’d never heard of before that totally speaks to you and can be your buddy (see Norma Jean above). You’re going to have to stay alive to the world even though it’s often terrible to stay alive to the world. You’re going to have do things other than write. And you’re going to have to write.

You can Venmo me the co-pay. 😘

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Hey PSST let’s say you were looking to preorder my “sexy novel” (according to Marie Claire and I guess they would know) ANIMAL INSTINCT, which comes out March 18. You might like a discount of 25-50%, in which case you might check out the flash sale on Tertulia, a really cool and non-evil platform for book discovery and purchasing! Use code INSTINCT at checkout.

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I also have a couple generative classes coming up: the beloved Writing for Women on the Verge, and round two of the popular Journaling Toward Clarity. AND. I have a few open spots for manuscript consults in May and June! Get in touch if you’re interested in learning more. Please. And thank you.