Why isn’t writing fun anymore? I asked in a previous post, and there was a simple answer. So: how to make it fun again? I can’t forget all the knowledge that makes me self-critical and slow to write.
1. Admit it’s not always fun. (I know, not what you wanted to hear.) But sometimes we strain activities by putting the weight of fun on them. Ever been to a miserable family gathering where everyone was trying so hard to make everyone ‘have fun’? Yeah. It’s okay to just work.
2. Be messy. Make mistakes. LET yourself make mistakes. Mary Turzillo’s first advice to me was, “It’s only a first draft.” She said she had to tape those words above her writing desk. Remember: No one sees your behind-the-scenes!
3. Let yourself write the things you don’t want anyone to read. Stop the self-censoring! If all you can do to stop it is promise yourself no one will read this, that’s what you have to do. You’ll be surprised what you later don’t mind sharing.
4. Daydream. Schedule daydream time. For real. Set aside fifteen or twenty minutes and let your mind wander – no book, no tv, no facebook – just your mind. If you find yourself obsessing over what to do for dinner or what you have to get done later, acknowledge that thought, let yourself think it, then move away, back to daydreams, back to fantasy. Notice what comes.
5. Take notes on your fantasies. What do you want to daydream about? What do you wish you could read? Make lists. My college professor Mary Grimm once showed us her “idea list”. I started keeping one. You can always go back to a list. Feed your writing with these little things you wanted. I mean, honestly, ANY story can have a hot barbarian warrior in it. Here’s one I did: writing a story in a stereotypical hard-boiled detective voice-over monolog. That was so much fun! It took writing down things I wanted to do to remind me to try it, instead of writing what I ‘should’.
6. Freewrite. See where that takes you. No censorship, no worries about making sense or being polished. I find it helpful to write like I’m explaining to someone what the story is supposed to be about, what I want it to be. Sometimes that monolog becomes parts of dialog in the finished project.
7. Skip ahead to the scene you actually want to write. One of my rules I wish I would follow more often. We feel like we have to ram ourselves headfirst against our writing, like beating down a brick wall with our forehead, when we could step around that wall. Can’t stand the wedding scene? Skip it. Write the wedding night instead. Works for more than just scenes. Can’t stand this character? No idea what he’s saying? Skip him. Give his part to someone you WANT to write about.
8. Take away the decisions. Decisions are hard work! This is why all that ‘boring work’ of outlining can actually make the writing more fun. Randomize the genders and ethnic backgrounds of your characters – GURPS tables are great for this. Random draw your plot! (I’ve been trying this lately.) Whatever you can do to minimize the number of decisions you make WHILE writing will make the writing itself more fun and flow faster.
You know what helped me accomplish a lot of this? The Clarion Write-a-Thon. Having only a day to write a draft really makes you drop the baggage – you have no choice. I find myself picking topics I’m actually excited about – topics like, say, attractive young men. I find myself just dropping a scene that isn’t working and writing another. I find myself going ahead and pre-writing awful, ‘telling’ exposition, which I delete after it gets me to the actual story.
So… join the write-a-thon, I guess. Or just follow the advice above, which I gained from it. 🙂
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