{"id":1128,"date":"2020-02-12T09:58:39","date_gmt":"2020-02-12T14:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/?p=1128"},"modified":"2020-02-12T09:58:39","modified_gmt":"2020-02-12T14:58:39","slug":"keeping-on-keeping-on-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/12\/keeping-on-keeping-on-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping On Keeping On"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before the post, this is a good time to mention the annual writers\u2019 conference (in the fall) from the Rutgers University Council on Children\u2019s Literature (RUCCL), which I think is the best, most helpful one-day writers\u2019 conference in the\u2013galaxy! (Alas, you have to be at least eighteen for this.) Here\u2019s a link: https:\/\/www.ruccl.org\/index.html<\/a>. The FAQ page is especially helpful. Be sure to take note of the deadlines, the cost, the scholarships, and the fact that the deadline for scholarship applicants is earlier than for people who can pay full freight. What\u2019s so great is that it\u2019s a mentorship program. Mentees are assigned mentors, who are usually either agents or editors and occasionally authors, like me, who go almost every year. Your mentor reads up to five pages of your WIP and meets with you about them for forty-five minutes to discuss them. There\u2019s also a session of groups of five mentees with their mentors to discuss the industry and answer questions. Plus a speaker and a panel. I highly recommend it\u2013and I can meet you. We can have lunch together!<\/p>\n

When I appealed for questions, Raina came through with several great ones. Here\u2019s the first: How do you deal with writing burnout, and how can you tell if it\u2019s really burnout or something different? I\u2019m on my 5th draft of my story and at this point, part of me is thinking \u201cI don\u2019t want to look at this anymore\u201d and part of me is thinking \u201cI need to be disciplined and just get it done.\u201d I do have a problem with self-discipline and procrastination, so I\u2019m a little wary when I feel like I can\u2019t\/don\u2019t want to write at a given moment. On the other hand, maybe I actually do need to take a break, but I honestly can\u2019t tell if I actually need to take a step back from the book or if that\u2019s just an excuse I\u2019m giving to myself.<\/em><\/p>\n

On a similar note, is dealing with this different when writing is your job, as opposed to a hobby? Right now I can take a break (or even stop working on a book altogether) when I want, but a professional author writing under contract wouldn\u2019t be able to do that.<\/em><\/p>\n

Melissa Mead wrote back, I can totally relate to these questions, and I\u2019m itching to hear the answers.<\/em><\/p>\n

Gee, Raina, I think you have this. A couple of posts ago, you wrote about your method of keeping track of your writing time, which is very much like my method. I\u2019m thinking your method doesn\u2019t apply as well to revision for you. I\u2019ll write about that, as well as the more general problem.<\/p>\n

Melissa Mead, I\u2019m not sure if I have answers. I just have thoughts.<\/p>\n

Two years ago when I was seventy, at my annual checkup, my (now retired, younger than I am) doctor predicted that I\u2019d be healthy for another thirty years. If his crystal ball is right\u2013as it may not<\/em> be\u2013I\u2019m mid-career, since I started writing (not being published) thirty years ago. Yippee!<\/p>\n

And yet, I wake up some mornings wondering if I could start another, different career at my age.<\/p>\n

Is this burnout? I don\u2019t know. I know I had trouble deciding on my present project, about the Trojan War. Everything, including this one, seemed too much like what I\u2019ve done before. But I love Greek mythology, and now I\u2019m into it. And I have an idea for another historical novel after this one.<\/p>\n

The point is, writing is hard for many writers, including me. We keep learning\u2013forever!–which may be the best thing about it, but new challenges always crop up, and what worked for the last book probably won\u2019t be helpful on this one.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve written about this before here, but below are some strategies that enable me to continue writing:<\/p>\n

\u2219 I have a daily writing-time minimum goal of at least two and a quarter hours. The goal is a goad.<\/p>\n

\u2219 If I don\u2019t meet the goal, I forgive myself. This is super important. If I don\u2019t forgive myself, it\u2019s harder to start the next day.<\/p>\n

\u2219 I\u2019m especially kind to myself when I\u2019m just beginning a book, because that\u2019s the hardest part for me, so I cut myself some slack. Raina, you may do the same for revisions, which may be the time for you for a little coddling. Praise yourself for as much as you do manage.<\/p>\n

\u2219 I don\u2019t allow myself to make global judgments about my work. No, This is so cliche<\/em>. No, Nobody will want to read this<\/em>. No, This stinks<\/em>. Even, This is great<\/em> is prohibited, because it\u2019s too likely to lead to, What if I mess it up?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2219 I steer clear of thinking about how monumental the task ahead of me is. A novel is big and daunting. We should concentrate on the task at hand.<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks ago I shared my WIP so far with my friend, the writer Karen Romano Young (whose marvelous contemporary fantasy and paean to libraries has just come out\u2013A Girl, A Raccoon, and the Midnight Moon<\/em>), and she shared hers with me, both in the early stages. The critique was super helpful, but equally helpful for both of us was the deadline. I wrote hard to have as many pages as I could to give to her. We\u2019re going to meet again later this month.<\/p>\n

So a critique buddy, a writers\u2019 group, beta readers can help us keep going. The advantage of an exchange with other writers is that we\u2019re all equally vulnerable. You see how imperfect my draft can be, and I see how not-ready yours can be. Neither of us feels stupid, or we both feel equally stupid.<\/p>\n

What can we do to make revision more tolerable if we hate it?<\/p>\n

\u2219 We can take small bites, as I do when I\u2019m starting a new project. Half an hour of revision may be tolerable, followed by working on a shiny new story.<\/p>\n

\u2219 We can think ahead of time about what we\u2019re going to tackle and set a limited goal, like today I\u2019ll work on the argument between Jeff and his brother. Or, more generally, today I\u2019ll concentrate on dialogue.<\/p>\n

\u2219 Thought control is especially important here. No, It isn\u2019t getting better<\/em>. No, How many drafts will I have to go through before I\u2019m satisfied, if I ever am?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2219 This is general, but it may apply especially to revision: No book is perfect. Mine aren\u2019t. We strive to write the best book we can, which is all we can do. We can expect to get better over time, but we\u2019ll still never write a perfect book.<\/p>\n

As for knowing whether it\u2019s burnout or something else, well, do we ever finish anything? Or is it just this book that has us stymied?<\/p>\n

If we never finish, maybe we should try a different kind of writing, like plays or short stories or poems. Or maybe we should try other art forms. Or we can figure that we\u2019re not in a finishing frame of mind and write as far as we can and then start something news. Then we\u2019ll have lots of threads to return to.<\/p>\n

If it\u2019s just this book, then maybe we should put it aside until we\u2019re drawn back to it.<\/p>\n

As for writing when writing is your job, having a contract does help. I make my deadlines as far in the future as I can get away with, because the idea of being late horrifies me, so I suppose that’s a goad, too. So does not knowing what I would do with myself if I stopped writing.<\/p>\n

By now, happily, finances aren\u2019t an issue so much. I get a small pension from my job before I quit to write full-time, social security, and royalties, and they all add up to enough. I\u2019m not sure if finances were ever a factor. Earlier, I figured that if I wasn\u2019t earning enough from writing, I would find a job. After all, I did have a job and write before I got published.<\/p>\n

Curiosity helps me. If I don\u2019t keep writing, I won\u2019t know what I\u2019ll come up with next. If I give up on a story, I won\u2019t find out what it will become. Same for if I stop revising\u2013I won\u2019t discover how it will be after the umpty-ump draft.<\/p>\n

Here are three prompts:<\/p>\n

\u2219 Your MC has done something terrible, which she regrets and feels ashamed of. What her dreadful deed is is up to you. The do-over wizard arrives and gives her a chance to repair the past. After she’s gone back, matters are different but not better. Write the story with at least seven do-overs until a solution is reached that satisfies her. Have her make discoveries about herself along the way.<\/p>\n

\u2219 Cinderella\u2019s stepfamily are portrait painters. Cinderella is expected to be one, too, and she wants to be! But nothing she paints is good enough, and the art exhibition is coming up. Her stepmom and stepsisters tell her that her work isn\u2019t ready to be shown. Write the story.<\/p>\n

\u2219 The miller\u2019s daughter has to spin straw into gold, and Rumpelstiltskin doesn\u2019t appear, and the king will execute her if he doesn\u2019t get his gold. In your story, have her do whatever it takes to stay alive\u2013figure out how to do that spinning, or something else. Give her a happy ending, but it\u2019s up to you whether it goes well for the king and the miller.<\/p>\n

Have fun, and save what you write!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before the post, this is a good time to mention the annual writers\u2019 conference (in the fall) from the Rutgers University Council on Children\u2019s Literature (RUCCL), which I think is the best, most helpful one-day writers\u2019 conference in the\u2013galaxy! (Alas, you have to be at least eighteen for this.) Here\u2019s a link: https:\/\/www.ruccl.org\/index.html. The FAQ […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[325,145,199],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1128"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1129,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128\/revisions\/1129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}