Help pushing myself to write my book

[shamguy4]

I have not been doing well with my book lately...
The biggest problem is me... I get lazy and dont want to write it... until I actually open the book... then I dont let go of it...but to get to that part....

The idea hit me 2 years ago after I finished reading a book in my house. I said "I need another book to read..." and someone in my house said "go downstairs to the bookshelf and get one" I said "I have read those all..."
So they said "So write one yourself...then read it!"

And so I began to write a book. After writing 3 pages in a row I realized it was more than just writing. You have to construct the book way before hand. And so for the rest of that year I just brainstormed trying to think up of a good story.
The next summer I began to write the now well thought out book.And I continued to write for the next few months... But it became on and off... I had like three chapters...
It was then towards the end of last year that I began to not like the direction of my story. I felt it was missing something, and so I began to spend more time writing notes than the actual thing. By now it was last summer, and it was then that I thoroughly had my book figured out and it looked perfect! (and still does)


There was just one thing.. the three chapters that I wrote would not fit into my new version (well, 2 of the chapters wont fit...)
So I had to start over, which was a bit boring...
I also started college and its hard to find time. I usually just randomly pick myself up and say now is a good time to write....

What can I do to make myself get back on track? I wish I could find one set time to write it everyday but I cant do that... unless I write it at like 12 at night...
And finding a quiet place is hard too.... sometimes sitting in my bed is comfortable...sometimes not....
The library seems quiet usually and thats usually where I write it...But the library closes at 12!


Basically after 2 years of writing the same freakin story all I have to show is two notebooks full of notes and three unwanted chapters!!

[Lith]

12 midnight? Lucky you. Ours closes at 9, a generous hour for a small town, actually. And it's not open Sundays.

Welcome to the writing process! Been there. Quite literally, only with 100k+ useless manuscript and 200+ pages of notes, lists of words waiting to become a language, etc. All in oh, 3 years, while I was in college. Not to mention all the other stories I started and stopped during that time.

You have several options. One, continue at your current pace. Two, put the manuscript aside for the rest of your college education and possibly beyond. Three, set firm, clear deadlines for yourself, and stick to them. Three has really helped me tremendously. Inspiration isn't as necessary as we think it is, or rather, perhaps it's misunderstood. Set the bar high (mine's usually around 50k a month, or 1,667 words a day), so that you have to do it. The benefit (depending on your temperament as a writer) is that you are forced to keep writing. It also gives you room to explore your world. Don't worry about quality, either. You can always rewrite.

[shamguy4]

I am worried about quality!!!
I am afraid that when (hopefully someday) the time comes to rewrite I wont be into as i was when i first wrote it. And maybe I will forget how my character felt back then in that particular scene. I am afraid I wont feel it and so I will only be able to fix what I wrote, but not enhance it if it needs enhancing.

[Malloriel]

I have a lot of the same problems, minus the college bit and whatnot.

Now, not only am I lazy, but I world build quite a lot. Perhaps I can help put things into perspective by sharing the fact that I've been building my story(stories, really) since early to mid 2000. I'm still working out many of the details, and I find the more I know about the history and world itself, the more I can give to my stories. Connections I never thought of just materialise conveniently. I'm a little epic, though, I think, and it's also been an off and on project.

The best I can tell you is that if you're really meant to write it, if it really is your passion and new love, then no matter how much time passes, or how daunting a rewrite or fine tuning session may seem, you'll keep going. You could put a project down for six months and it's still okay. There's no expiration date on imagination, plot, characters, or talent, so if what you need is that break, I say take it.

Oddly enough (for me, at least) deadlines do help. I thought to enter something of a publication contest, but it required the first three or four chapters by a certain date, and I hadn't even finished the first, so that REALLY got me going. I've actually been set back by then by the same situation you're in, where the more you know about your world, the less some of the earlier chapters really fit in, but you have the same core plan, same idea, so no matter how many times it takes to get through it, if it's something you really love and want to see completed (you could really say "grow up", as our attachment to our stories can border on the parental and possessive), then you don't have to worry about the time table.

I wish your situation were more convenient, timetable and access wise. There's really nothing worse than itching to write, and not being able to. Very much worse than having the time and no desire.

But I feel for you. I hope this helped a little.

[chopper]

discipline.

tough to do when you're not being paid for something - i'm a demon of effiency at work, and i think i once overheard one person saying "he scares me" (!) but i also find it very hard to just sit down and write knowing that i'm miles from the end. you have to believe in what you're doing and force yourself to sit and write - even if it is midnight and the bed is lumpy.

always have a notebook with you, and write your chapters in that. as you transfer it to PC, you can rewrite it. so when you check your email or spend 10 mins on the Chrons, then spend 10 mins typing up......

(note to self: must practise what i preach and stop playing Sims.....)

yep, there's bound to be something you do that you can stop doing while you write.

s

[shamguy4]

ok maybe I will make myself do a certain amount of words in a day though thats just quantity and knowing me... I want quality... so is rewriting a paragraph counted as more words?

and how many words should I start with for one day? whats a normal amount?

[Malloriel]

Okay, I wouldn't go with words, personally. I'd set out to do a certain number of pages. Also, the biggest tips I've received are these: the first draft is always shyte, and don't get bogged down in editing. The second is the hardest to, I think, because you read what you've written to get back into the flow, and if you're 17 pages into a 23 page chapter, it's next to impossible to not just tweak and perfect what's there. I still tweak as I go, but if you just do little things it shouldn't get too much in the way.

If you find all you're doing is editing, then read just the few paragraphs leading up to what's next and keep moving from there. Resist the urge to read the whole thing over. Editing can kill a novel, not just for what it removes, but from what it prevents you from writing.

My earliest writing goal, for motivation, was 7 pages a day. I've also set things like "finish chapter 2 by next Friday", so that it doesn't matter how many words I get in in a day, or how many pages, as long as the chapter is finished by that day.

[shamguy4]

How many hours a day do you have to write?
I write for like an hour... if I'm lucky a bit more...
in the summer I have more time

[ctg]

I write between two and ten hours per day, some days none. What you should do is to write the amount what you feel is best for you, as not on every day you can do what did on the previous day. There is no other solution to the writers block but forcing yourself to write.

[Lith]

There's always more room to worry about quality. So much room that it's inhibiting, and you end up never writing, but planning, and planning, and planning, always trying to make it better but, remarkably, never actually writing it. Because deep down you know you aren't capable of writing it at the level it needs to be written at. And the reason you can't write it as well as you want is because you don't have the practice. So you need to practice writing this story or others.
I'm not saying there isn't a place for worrying about quality, because there is. Just not the kind of worrying that keeps you from starting. As to keeping interest up during rewrites- it's a matter of practice, too. If your idea is really interesting, and holds up during the worldbuilding process, and the writing process, and all that, it will probably still be there during rewrites. There's still the possibility of rereading it, seeing it for utter crap, and falling into despair over how to rewrite it into something excellent, but really, is that any worse than what you've got now? I.E., nothing?

And if you are slacking because there is some problem in your structure or characters that you only vaguely feel, then writing through the tale will bring those problems out where you can see them.

Some writers also find that planning things out heavily before they start saps a lot of their interest in writing their tale, as well as the freedom of exploring their world when they write. Some of the most interesting things can come out of the blue when you've 1000 words left and need something (anything) to fill it. Then you have the problem of abandoning/revising your outline, or slavishly sticking to what you've planned. But again, neither matters much if you don't do the actual writing.

Another thing that can happen is that you are in college. (That happens to a lot of people.) Your world is expanding quickly, and it is possible to outgrow an idea between the time you start and finish school.

Anyways, deadlines are the best cure for laziness.

I write for about an hour and a half a day, though my lazy butt falls behind during the week, and I play catch-up on the weekends a lot. These days I write 2000 word chapters for three weeks out of the month, and take the first week of the next month off. It does get easier to write more as time goes on. You're also writing too much to worry about writer's block. If you are absolutely stuck, you'll develop cheating methods of expanding the count (extra adjectives, rambles, opinions, etc.) which you can take out easily enough in the next draft. Whatever works for you though. I would recommend AT LEAST 500-1000 words a day. (I had a lower starting point, but being lazy, I'd play catchup on weekends, and after a while I noticed that the extra 400 words a day wasn't that hard, and it was easier to write chapters that way.)

And make sure you take breaks. Once an hour or so. Computers can be murder on your eyes and chairs your heinie.

[shamguy4]

ok... I wrote for an hour today so far...
Did I enjoy what I wrote?
somewhat...
I have not written in days so I kinda have to get back into it... maybe now that I'm a little into it I'll write notes on the general story and see if that helps me get back into my world... cause as i wrote it today i felt far away...

I have fallen so far...

[shamguy4]

Great!! and of course now that I want to get into my book I have 2 test this week and I have to write a report on history...
...yay...

[Zubi-Ondo]

There is more time in life than most of us ever realize. We rush to get things done, and then looking back we often say "Hey, that wasn't so bad." The key I have found is to not get too obsessed with any one thing. Set yourself five years into your future, and look back at what you've done. Is that what you would have wanted to accomplish? Perhaps you will re-think things a bit, and say, well I want to be a writer, but it's okay if I have to grow into it. Maybe I'd better pass my exams and do well in school in the meantime. (Do I sound like dear old Dad? ) Sorry, but I am a Dad, and I've just begun writing recently. I don't have as much time to write as I'd like because I have kids. But I love my kids, and I'm not going to ignore them because I'm obsessed with my writing. Enjoy your life, and your youth! If writing is in your heart, it wont go away. Don't worry - follow your heart. It knows you better than anyone.

- Z.

[Culhwch]

Originally Posted by Zubi-Ondo

There is more time in life than most of us ever realize. We rush to get things done, and then looking back we often say "Hey, that wasn't so bad." The key I have found is to not get too obsessed with any one thing. Set yourself five years into your future, and look back at what you've done. Is that what you would have wanted to accomplish? Perhaps you will re-think things a bit, and say, well I want to be a writer, but it's okay if I have to grow into it. Maybe I'd better pass my exams and do well in school in the meantime. (Do I sound like dear old Dad? ) Sorry, but I am a Dad, and I've just begun writing recently. I don't have as much time to write as I'd like because I have kids. But I love my kids, and I'm not going to ignore them because I'm obsessed with my writing. Enjoy your life, and your youth! If writing is in your heart, it wont go away. Don't worry - follow your heart. It knows you better than anyone.

- Z.

A philosophy I have to agree with, Zubi. I used to fret that I was running out of time to get anywhere with my writing. Then I realised that I'm twenty-seven, for crying out loud. I have a lifetime to get somewhere with it. If I don't write today (I probably won't, work 'til 10pm) and I don't write tomorrow, oh well. I might write the next day, of the day after that. The important thing is that I keep coming back to it. I have to, it won't let me go...

[shamguy4]

So you want me to write my novel knowing that it will be a side job in my life, and only a side job? And that other things come first?
So I can write and never have to worry about when the end will come?

But maybe I want writing to BE my job? Maybe if I finish my book, I wont have to get a job because I would make enough money off my book?

This is called a dream.... A man can dream can't he?