On surly characters and reluctant writing
May. 10th, 2006 11:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
katiefooleryWriting’s not always fun.
I know that sounds like a horrible thing to say, but it’s true. Actually, it’s not that surprising. When the term ‘glamorous occupations’ is brought up, one’s mind doesn’t automatically think ‘writer’. You don’t suddenly picture a writer getting up early and sitting in front of their computer in rumpled pyjamas and bed-hair and think: yes! I’d like that to be me!
I do dream about it, though. Well, not the bit with the pyjamas and especially not the bit about getting up early. The idea of just being a writer, though - that appeals to me. In my ideal world, I’d rise at a reasonable time, shower, then somehow manage to make my hair look absolutely perfect through force of will alone. Next would come a lovely breakfast (cooked by my Timothy). After lingering over this, I’d glide to my desk, wearing a stylish outfit that just shouted ‘I write for a living!’, and sit down to tap away at my computer in an incredibly elegant, not to mention efficient, manner.
There’d probably be a cat there, too.
And a window with a lovely view over some fields.
And a cuppa. Definitely a cuppa.
I’m sorry to say, the reality is more like this: get home from work, make a hot milo, sit down at the computer with my top half decked out in work clothes and my bottom half enclosed in tracky-dacks... procrastinate... write.
Sometimes it’s great. The words flow, the characters come to life and the story unfolds itself like unto a cat stretching after a long, restful nap.
And then there are the other times. The times where I write about one word every ten minutes. The times when the characters are surly and won’t say what I want them to say. The times when I lose faith in the story altogether.
Those are the times when writing’s hard.
What I’d like to know is, how does everyone else keep up the momentum? How do you remind yourself why you’re writing this story in the first place?
In short, when your writing’s down in the dumps, how do you cheer it up?
I know that sounds like a horrible thing to say, but it’s true. Actually, it’s not that surprising. When the term ‘glamorous occupations’ is brought up, one’s mind doesn’t automatically think ‘writer’. You don’t suddenly picture a writer getting up early and sitting in front of their computer in rumpled pyjamas and bed-hair and think: yes! I’d like that to be me!
I do dream about it, though. Well, not the bit with the pyjamas and especially not the bit about getting up early. The idea of just being a writer, though - that appeals to me. In my ideal world, I’d rise at a reasonable time, shower, then somehow manage to make my hair look absolutely perfect through force of will alone. Next would come a lovely breakfast (cooked by my Timothy). After lingering over this, I’d glide to my desk, wearing a stylish outfit that just shouted ‘I write for a living!’, and sit down to tap away at my computer in an incredibly elegant, not to mention efficient, manner.
There’d probably be a cat there, too.
And a window with a lovely view over some fields.
And a cuppa. Definitely a cuppa.
I’m sorry to say, the reality is more like this: get home from work, make a hot milo, sit down at the computer with my top half decked out in work clothes and my bottom half enclosed in tracky-dacks... procrastinate... write.
Sometimes it’s great. The words flow, the characters come to life and the story unfolds itself like unto a cat stretching after a long, restful nap.
And then there are the other times. The times where I write about one word every ten minutes. The times when the characters are surly and won’t say what I want them to say. The times when I lose faith in the story altogether.
Those are the times when writing’s hard.
What I’d like to know is, how does everyone else keep up the momentum? How do you remind yourself why you’re writing this story in the first place?
In short, when your writing’s down in the dumps, how do you cheer it up?
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no subject
on 2006-05-10 01:30 am (UTC)My writing is curled up on the couch, laptop on my lap, future back problems in the distance, and i stare. Or being up at all hours of the night, so tired my eyes are half closed, and typing because i can't sleep because one scene is going round and round in my head and just won't shut the hell up.
But i just can't imagine doing anything else, really. I see it like you do, but obviously my own fantasy about writing. And that's living out on a farm, a dog curled up at my feet, a cuppa, a laptop, and cows in the distance. (because i can't imagine a farm without cows, i miss having them, but sadly they wouldn't fit in our backyard) When i can't write in moments like this, it's horribly depressing and i convince myself i can't write and i have the wrong idea. Then there are days when i'm writing so much and i'm in love with my characters and i can't help telling everyone about it. I suppose it all works in a balance. We're lucky enough to have such wonderful characters, that occaisionally we have to feel like everyone else with the added sense of loss when they're not there. I suppose it's meant to make us feel how lucky we are.
Well,it's a theory.
no subject
on 2006-05-10 11:33 am (UTC)It's a good theory, that one of yours. And it makes sense. If everything goes right one day, you feel full of confidence and success. When it fails the next, you naturally feel useless. Well, I do. Sometimes.