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Challenge #5
In your own space, talk about an idea you wish you had the time / talent / energy to do. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.
Oooph. Today’s prompt took off in my mind, especially once I read the hints about all the different ways we could tackle it. I have A LOT of ideas I wish I’d written, notebooks with story ideas or character sketches or just a scene or image that popped into my head. Why are they notes in notebooks? The easy answer is that I haven’t done what I needed to in order to craft them into stories.
I’d like to say that I’ve not written more original fiction and poetry because I don’t have time. But that’s not true. It’s because I haven’t made it a priority and because I’ve avoided it for a boatload of reasons that most writers grapple with. Procrastination and avoidance means you don’t have to put yourself out there and take risks. They are powerful agents of fear and self-doubt. I’m trying to be planful about identifying and containing them this year. To build back that writerly muscle memory that will let me be productive.
In terms of energy, I think that lack of energy was a thing for me and still is. Losing 50 pounds last year has helped with my energy levels and just generally how I feel in my body. The energy deficit wasn’t just physical: it was also emotional/intellectual. When you feel worn out physically, it’s bleeds into those other areas. So I’m hoping to continue my journey in this area in 2022 as well since I think it will also make me more productive.
In terms of fics, I have a list of fics that I’d like to continue or that people have asked me to continue that I would like to write. I suppose that I haven’t because… Well, let’s be honest, because I haven’t made doing so a priority. The last two years especially, I’ve been more likely to play video games and passively consume media rather than writing. We’ll see how successful I am at breaking that chain this year. Gaming in moderation to make time for creation.
There is one other take on “things I wish I’d written” that I started doing this past year. I’ve been making master lists in my writing journal, something that Alexandra Sokoloff talks about in her books on writing. Part of the process involves making lists of favorite things in different categories and then analyzing those lists for commonalities in terms of things that spark excitement. So you could have a favorite heroines list or a favorite vampire story list. One of my lists is “Things I Wish I’d Written,” and I don’t mean that in the toxic way we all are prey too--judging ourselves against other writers.
My list tends toward things where the writing sings (like Stephanie Garber’s Caraval series or Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House), or the characters/world just captivated me (like Jay Kristoff’s Nevernight series, Bioware’s Dragon Age video games, Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling and Guild Hunter series, or Marvel’s WandaVision series on Disney+). So compelling characters, worlds I want to lose myself in, and writing that sings are things that draw me in as a reader and should translate into the things that give me the most joy when writing them.
Banner by Seleneheart.
In your own space, talk about an idea you wish you had the time / talent / energy to do. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.
Oooph. Today’s prompt took off in my mind, especially once I read the hints about all the different ways we could tackle it. I have A LOT of ideas I wish I’d written, notebooks with story ideas or character sketches or just a scene or image that popped into my head. Why are they notes in notebooks? The easy answer is that I haven’t done what I needed to in order to craft them into stories.
I’d like to say that I’ve not written more original fiction and poetry because I don’t have time. But that’s not true. It’s because I haven’t made it a priority and because I’ve avoided it for a boatload of reasons that most writers grapple with. Procrastination and avoidance means you don’t have to put yourself out there and take risks. They are powerful agents of fear and self-doubt. I’m trying to be planful about identifying and containing them this year. To build back that writerly muscle memory that will let me be productive.
In terms of energy, I think that lack of energy was a thing for me and still is. Losing 50 pounds last year has helped with my energy levels and just generally how I feel in my body. The energy deficit wasn’t just physical: it was also emotional/intellectual. When you feel worn out physically, it’s bleeds into those other areas. So I’m hoping to continue my journey in this area in 2022 as well since I think it will also make me more productive.
In terms of fics, I have a list of fics that I’d like to continue or that people have asked me to continue that I would like to write. I suppose that I haven’t because… Well, let’s be honest, because I haven’t made doing so a priority. The last two years especially, I’ve been more likely to play video games and passively consume media rather than writing. We’ll see how successful I am at breaking that chain this year. Gaming in moderation to make time for creation.
There is one other take on “things I wish I’d written” that I started doing this past year. I’ve been making master lists in my writing journal, something that Alexandra Sokoloff talks about in her books on writing. Part of the process involves making lists of favorite things in different categories and then analyzing those lists for commonalities in terms of things that spark excitement. So you could have a favorite heroines list or a favorite vampire story list. One of my lists is “Things I Wish I’d Written,” and I don’t mean that in the toxic way we all are prey too--judging ourselves against other writers.
My list tends toward things where the writing sings (like Stephanie Garber’s Caraval series or Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House), or the characters/world just captivated me (like Jay Kristoff’s Nevernight series, Bioware’s Dragon Age video games, Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling and Guild Hunter series, or Marvel’s WandaVision series on Disney+). So compelling characters, worlds I want to lose myself in, and writing that sings are things that draw me in as a reader and should translate into the things that give me the most joy when writing them.
Banner by Seleneheart.
From:
no subject
Interesting also to hear you talk about list-making because I started a writing course that someone mentioned here, actually, and the first 8 or so exercises are just making lists and thinking about how things relate. I'm certainly interested in exploring that further so I just went and downloaded Sokoloff's Screenwriting Tips for Authors. Hopefully it will have some of the exercises you refer to.
Lastly, Guild Hunter! What a fabulous world that is.
From:
no subject
If you need any more writing reference book recs, let me know. ^_^
I have to confess in addition to making lists, I'm decorating the journal too. Because it's fun and looks pretty and makes me happy as I'm flipping through it.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, I started reading the Guild Hunter series, because it had been sitting on my TBR pile forever. And, well, who doesn't like angels and vampires? I was bowled over by the depth of the world, by the characters, by the fact that the books were dark and visceral and gritty in addition to being passionate and beautiful and hot.
After I mainlined them, I was reluctant to move to the Psy-Changeling series, because I didn't think it would appeal as much. But I was wrong. So very wrong.
From:
no subject
My writing problem isn't avoidance of taking chances, so much as avoidance of a thing I made myself feel obligated to do. I'm trying to work on being more playful about my writing, instead of letting myself get so wrapped up in writing-as-forced-labor. It's so hard to let myself enjoy it because it feels like drudgery, now, like something I have to do instead of something I'm allowed to want to do. Daydreaming used to be fun, and I turned it into something that feels like reading a book for class. But I am determined to play more, to find more joy in the things I used to love but was then taught to use to hustle for my worth as a human by using for advantage. But that's a trap, and I fell in, so this is me, slowly planning my escape.
From:
no subject
Of course, for me, there's a balance to be struck so that play or "not feeling it" don't become avoidance strategies. Because I can procrastinate like nobody's business. ^_^
Let me know how things are working for you, and if you've found any good ways to bring play and fun back to the process.
From:
no subject
♥
Good luck to you and your journey.
♥
From:
no subject
I'm working on trying to build writing and moving sprints into my days, so I can have a bit from Column A and a bit from Column B. Still working on that move more bit, but I think it will start to fall into place once I have a solid routine in mind.