writing is hard

[fannishliss]

Okay here is a thing.

When I write something in a "flow state" and it just pours out, that is when my writing ALWAYS gets the best reception.

When I LOVE  a project and when I pore over it and work for it, nada.  WHAT.  WHY.

So hey all you writers.... is it possible to incorporate the flow state into a daily writing ethic? if so how?

I have to say it's terribly frustrating for me as a writer to see work that I just "toss out" climb to the top while my darlings sink into obscurity.  Is this "kill your darlings"?  I hate that phrase.  WHY. 

Comments

[kalliel]

OMG I know what you mean!!! I swear to god this is always the way of things, and I'm not sure why. Is it just because I'm less aware of my 'flow state' works, and since there tend to be more of them (as they take so much less time and effort), my mind just highlights the ones that were successful and I don't remember the rest, whereas I'm much more acutely aware of the reception things I worked hard on did not yet? Is it all psychological? Or is there something to this?

I would love to know!! Because yeah, there's definitely something to be said for that flow state and great things do unexpectedly arise from it, but... there's also very big things to be said of things that take more effort. And it's frustrating as hell when the reverse never actually seems to be true--that is, something you worked really hard on actually being more widely received than something you flashed through.

Sigh!

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

Now it is true that sometimes as things pour out, I can feel that they read as more smooth and effortless. But then, I don't understand how readers can seemingly detect when I work really hard on something.

Maybe it's the lengths of sentences or paragraphs or something!

I also think it's maybe that the things that feel "effortless" are the ones that are closer to the "zeitgeist" ... and so they get a better reception because they are in fact what people are already thinking about and want to read more of.

I also want to think that a daily writing ethic is somehow the key -- one day the words just grind and feel so flat and dull, but the next if you are lucky, something will flow. The flat dull days are hell on my ethic, that's for sure, even tho some words are certainly better than no words.

And then a bubbly thing will just erupt... and my ethic is shot!! :P

[killabeez.livejournal.com]

I've commented on this before, too. It's the same for me, and it's frustrating! I wish I had an answer.

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

thanks for commiserating!!! :)

At least we are all in it together.

[chomaisky.livejournal.com]

It's the same with drawing, I guess :(

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

Dang. They try to convince you with drawing that if you just perfect the technique it will always work!!! :P

[runedgirl.livejournal.com]

It's totally the same for me. I probably should just wait for that flow state to come over me and do all the writing then...

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

it's nice to know I'm not alone!

[jessalrynn.livejournal.com]

The flow state is that precious moment of inspiration, where everything is just there?
I want to answer this, I have a suggestion. Bear with me for putting in a place holder, but at the moment I'm not going to be able to explain. I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

-Jessa

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

eagerly awaiting!

[datenshiblue.livejournal.com]

I'm not kidding, there is a book that explains exactly what you asked - how to incorporate the flow state into daily writing.

http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Writer-Dorothea-Brande/dp/0874771641/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414104841&sr=8-1&keywords=becoming+a+writer+brande

This is not a book about how to write, it's a book about how to be a writer. The most helpful book I ever read.

Good luck!

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

thanks! ordered the book!

it's great to hear from you! :)

[develish1]

Since my muse seems to have gone into hibernation again, I really can't offer any advice, sorry.

I give good hugs though, apparently

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

your hugs are good and also your prompts. :D

[igrockspock.livejournal.com]

I have been contemplating this post for a week because it's interesting and I empathize. I too often find that the stories I scribble down in a couple days do better than the ones I labor on for weeks. Sometimes I think that spontaneity is visible in our writing in ways that we're not conscious of. Maybe there's just something fun and appealing about the vibe of a story that was hastily written. So maybe it's not about killing our darlings, just not polishing them so much.

But I also think that the kind of projects I slave over for weeks tend to have less appealing subject matter than the ones I scribble down quickly. One of my most popular stories is borderline crack about Natasha making inappropriate greeting cards for the SHIELD team. I wrote it in maybe two hours and it promptly climbed to the top of my AO3 hit list and stayed there for almost two years. I think it's sort of like chips and queso -- one of those things that everyone likes and consumes mindlessly. On the other hand, the story I worked the hardest on in my whole five years of writing was about Hikaru Sulu grieving when he thinks his mother was killed in battle. That's not something that everyone wants to read, especially if they're coming to fanfic to have fun and unwind. That doesn't make it any easier when nobody reads that story though.

For me at least, sanity as a writer comes from having balance between the stories I write totally for me and the stories I write at least in part because I feel like having something fun to share with other people. Most of my MCU stories fall into the latter category, but I needed a break, so I'm slaving away at Veronica Mars stories that very few people are likely to read. And that sucks, because I'm proud of those stories, but I'm also not willing to kill my darlings by not writing them.

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

Yes, I do think that the quickest things to write hit a kind of zeitgeist, whereas the things you might love the most are the things most original and specific to yourself.

Keeping a balance is great advice!

Right now, I am balancing a huge, mind-eating psychic powers adventure (which for SOME reason, no one will read???) with Bucky and Steve take a shower. :P But the laugh is on the world, because I am letting my language have a field day in the shower story!!! :D