commitment phobia and writing ruts 06/16/2011
Ah, well. Failed NaNo. Failed in my promise to finish the manuscript by Christmas. Going very, very slowly on the forever-rewrite.
I figured out some of the reasons why it's going so slowly. The main problem is that I've had a terrible time committing to a revision plan. I've started three or four rewrites of this novel. All are wonderful in different ways. All have brilliant points and idiotic mistakes. All are incompatible with each other.
And as Chesterton says, to make a choice--any choice--is to reject forever all other choices. I've been trying to choose among four different novels, and I love them all too much to reject any of them.
But I think I've finally picked one. It's not perfect, but I like it. There are pieces of it I'm not willing to give up for anything, even though they're overly ambitious and difficult and I'll probably regret them. I'm committing to it--or trying to, and my rewrite is finally progressing again.
And yesterday I wrote an article on the cognitive differences between typing and writing by hand, and I remembered how much I love writing by hand. It's so much slower--as if I weren't already going slowly enough!--but I write so much better, and I spend much less time staring at the blank page. So I'm attempting to finish this rewrite by hand. I have no doubt that I'll regret that more than once, and at some point I'll probably return to typing. But for now, my notebook and pen are progressing much faster than my fancy software and expensive computer. And when your writing gets stuck in a rut, you have to move forward with whatever works, right?
I figured out some of the reasons why it's going so slowly. The main problem is that I've had a terrible time committing to a revision plan. I've started three or four rewrites of this novel. All are wonderful in different ways. All have brilliant points and idiotic mistakes. All are incompatible with each other.
And as Chesterton says, to make a choice--any choice--is to reject forever all other choices. I've been trying to choose among four different novels, and I love them all too much to reject any of them.
But I think I've finally picked one. It's not perfect, but I like it. There are pieces of it I'm not willing to give up for anything, even though they're overly ambitious and difficult and I'll probably regret them. I'm committing to it--or trying to, and my rewrite is finally progressing again.
And yesterday I wrote an article on the cognitive differences between typing and writing by hand, and I remembered how much I love writing by hand. It's so much slower--as if I weren't already going slowly enough!--but I write so much better, and I spend much less time staring at the blank page. So I'm attempting to finish this rewrite by hand. I have no doubt that I'll regret that more than once, and at some point I'll probably return to typing. But for now, my notebook and pen are progressing much faster than my fancy software and expensive computer. And when your writing gets stuck in a rut, you have to move forward with whatever works, right?
Comments
You're right - absolutely whatever works! I've thumb-typed a scene on my phone and emailed it to myself in desperation.
I agree, some things are easier to write by hand. Sometimes that backspace button makes just getting it out really difficult. My editor loves the laptop. My muse prefers a pretty journal.
Have you looked into anything else that might be mucking up the works? Like the swamps of despair in The Neverending Story, sometimes it's the emotion that stops us more than the mud. Recently, I discovered my fear of success....
