Writing 101: Don’t Force, but Don’t Procrastinate · 5:05am May 3rd, 2019
Last week, after many false starts and discards, I finished the first chapter of my novel. Or more accurately, I finished the first chapter of a novel after discarding three others this year, and this is the first one I'm mildly confident might possibly be finish-able. To celebrate this ephemeral milestone, I would like to revisit a piece of writing advice that I learned long ago, yet I still often forget; don’t force it—but don’t procrastinate either.
Creativity is not a faucet, to be turned on and off at will. It is not a dog or trained animal, that will always come when called, eager to follow orders. There’s a good reason that in classical mythology, the muses are flighty beings, visiting artists on a whim and often leaving just as quickly. Creativity is not something that can be controlled. It is, by its nature, subjective, mercurial, hard to understand.
This lack of control applies to all aspects of creativity. From the actual act of writing, to the concepts, to the planning. Every facet of the creative process can bring its own hurdles and challenges. Attempting to force creativity to happen can scuttle an otherwise advisable circumstance.
Do you have a concept that you like, but something about it isn’t working? Does it continue to not work despite many adjustments and reworks? Maybe you shouldn’t force it. The same can be said of writing sessions, characters, outlines, and so much more.
Now, that’s not to say that I’m advocating procrastination or laziness. Forcing something that isn’t working often happens only after a lot of work has been spent on an idea. Forcing a character means that their arc and personality have been at least somewhat fleshed out. Sitting down to write something can start with a productive batch of words and end with an exhaustive slog.
There’s a fine line between recognizing when something has failed, and simply not trying at all. It’s the difference between writing for an hour, despite one’s misgivings, and not producing anything of worth; and choosing not to write and play video games for that hour instead. It’s the difference between getting up early and feeling terrible, or sleeping in and feeling just as bad.
There’s a quote by Tom Robbins that I like to pull out to illustrate this;
I show up in my writing room at approximately 10 A.M. every morning without fail. Sometimes my muse sees fit to join me there and sometimes she doesn't, but she always knows where I'll be. She doesn't need to go hunting in the taverns or on the beach or drag the boulevard looking for me.
In short, never force something to work if it clearly isn’t working. Don’t write something if you hate it, don’t use a character if they don’t fit, don’t follow through on an idea that isn’t working. But still try. Still develop and fix and edit and write. But if it doesn’t work, after you’ve tried everything, then don’t force it.
Creativity is not a faucet, nor a loyal dog. But sometimes it can be a reservoir, well-maintained and carefully supplied, to be dipped into with logistical care.
Well said. It's a tricky to balance to strike, but it's well worth the effort.
This hits me pretty hard right now. I’ve been at a really weird place with creativity all of 2019, after going through an intense period of forcing it during the latter half of 2018. I’m very proud of what I produced at the time, but sometimes I worry that I “broke” my creativity amid that process. Though sometimes I think my bigger hang-up is a sort of fear or malaise about things I write now not measuring up to what I wrote then.
I suppose the answer is just to build in some regular writing time and see if the muses see fit to join me.
Actually forcing is perfectly fine, but don't do it on a story you care about -- if you don't feel like writing on your current story but you kind of need to -- write 500 or 1000 words on something else, even if it is total drivel. You have to exsanguinate a bunch of words anyway before you write a higher percentage of good words. Just writing always helps. Plus if you get yourself in the habit of knowing you are going to write SOMETHING anyway, it can make it easier to write what you want to.
5052892 As a Magic player, I'm sure you understand the dichotomy as much as anyone. All those hours I've spent working on my cube or decks could easily have added up to a novel by now.
5052927 I know all those feelings quite well. I still sometimes re-read some of the fanfic I've written, and worry about if I will ever be able to meet that standard again. I read and wonder at why the words worked, curious if I missed something or got lucky.
I wrote this blog as much for myself as anyone. I've repeated that quote by Tom Robbins many times, and still forget to apply it
5053254 I used to offer that advice to people, but I have since learned better. That sort of "write anyway, even if it's total drivel" attitude is exactly what this blog is meant to warn against. I can't disagree more vehemently.
I used to write garbage projects while waiting for editors to work on the "real" chapters. I wrote a bunch of porn when I felt sick of having my stuff edited at all. But in retrospect, all those in-between projects and porn and ephemera were a waste time. I didn't enjoy writing them as much as a real project, I don't look back on them with fondness or interest. And most damning of all, they didn't teach me anything of substance, offered no lasting lessons to make my other writing better.
You'll always be better off spending five minutes on a story you love, rather than an hour on a story which is disposable garbage. I'd rather pour my soul into a few hundred words, than ever write a porn story again. To spend that effort on something you don't like is a waste of your creative energy, worse than writing nothing at all.