Sometimes, You Just Have to Start Over

 

Photo Credit: Marta Nogueira at Pexels

 

Writers tend to invest a lot of time and hard work into their projects. They’ll spend hours and days working on that article, short story, or book, even if it seems to be going nowhere.

 

Writers tend to be stubborn, so when it comes to something they are writing that appears to be impossible or useless to write, they’ll roll up their sleeves and give it their best effort. They actually LIKE the idea of something appearing to be impossible to write, because then they can say that THEY wrote it. THEY got the job done.

 

So it’s understandable that, when upon realizing that it’s time to abandon a project, the writer will have a hard time doing so. They just DON’T want to give up on it. Not yet, anyway.

 

That was my situation this week. And for me, abandoning the writing project I was spending ALL of that time working on was an easy thing to do – because I have deadlines to meet!

 

I have been spending time this month working on two different articles for two publications. One of them is for my column writing gig. With both articles, I really had a hard time getting them written.

 

With one article, I couldn’t find sufficient information to make the article work.

 

For the other article, I couldn’t figure out the slant. I knew WHAT I wanted to write about, but I had to figure out HOW to write about it.

 

So I spent a lot of time this month trying to make those articles work. I kept up with my research and looked into other articles on this topic.

 

But all of that just wasn’t really going anywhere, and as my deadlines got closer, I knew I had to make a choice: Either keep up with it or ditch them and try something else.

 

In the end, I decided to ditch both articles. I didn’t delete them, because maybe I would have better luck with them later, but I decided that it was time to change things up a bit in order for me to turn my articles in on time.

 

My solution: Change the topic. I did this for both articles and immediately got to work on them (again!) with the focus on these new topics. Fortunately, these efforts have been more successful.

 

As to those articles I ditched, I figured that maybe the one that I could not get enough information for just needed to sit for a while. Maybe I will come across that information at a later time. There are always new publications popping up! With the other one, I decided on a slant for it, BUT that particular slant will require some time and money. I can just work on this article at leisure and send it to a different publication that I do not have deadlines with whenever it is ready.

 

This was not the first time I have had to abandon a writing project and start over again. I have had to do this with poems, short stories, essays, and even whole books. In fact, my novels Shadow of Samhain and Faded Reflection were rewritten several times before I felt they were “just right” and sent them out. With a short story that reached a dead end, I decided that since the deadline for my submission was fast approaching, I needed to put that one on hold and write a different story entirely for that particular anthology.

 

If a writer is struggling with a WIP, one of the solutions to getting out of that struggle is to just put it away for a while. Another solution is to abandon it entirely and start over.

 

Starting from the beginning really isn’t so bad. It may seem frustrating to have to start over, especially after investing so much time and effort into trying to write or revise something, but if the current method to get the job done isn’t working, starting over is usually the best thing to do.

 

Sometimes, abandoning a project and starting over again is just the thing needed in order to be successful with that attempt to write the thing the writer was unable to write before. A fresh start can offer a fresh perspective and new ideas, so consider giving it a try the next time you are struggling to write or revise your work-in-progress.

I Almost Gave Up On My Story

Some months ago, I was added to a writer’s group chat for an anthology call. The anthology’s theme piqued my interest, so I stayed in the group. I was absolutely down for writing a story for this anthology.

 

The problem was, I couldn’t figure out a story!

 

But I know that creativity comes to us in waves, so I decided to sit tight until I had an idea for a story.

 

Sure enough, one morning, I woke up with a story in my head. And it was perfect for this theme!

 

So I went to the computer and typed it up. My next problem was that I didn’t have the idea for the WHOLE story. Just some of it. So, after I typed up what was in my head, I couldn’t figure out where to go next.

 

I really wanted to write the rest of this story, because it was interesting, so I didn’t let this go. I spent my time doing research on the mythology surrounding the creature in my story. I also tried to figure out a FREAKING NAME for this thing! And I also worked on worldbuilding for this story, since it had elements of fantasy.

 

Even still, after all that, the rest of the story remained a mystery.

 

So I decided to let it rest for a few days. Maybe something would come to me eventually.

 

But as several days passed, I grew frustrated.

 

So, I did more research, this time on writing these particular kinds of stories. I also chatted with my oldest about it, since he is also a writer and we tend to talk about writing. We threw around some ideas, he offered suggestions, and I decided I should just focus on the worldbuilding in the story while trying to figure out the rest of the story.

 

But as the deadline for submissions to the anthology drew closer, I still couldn’t figure out the rest of my story.

 

I opened the group chat on my phone, my finger hovering over the tiny keyboard as I read messages already in the chat. I was ready to tell them I was withdrawing from this anthology because “my story is shit.” But something made me pause. I had a feeling that there was hope for this story yet.

 

So I closed the chat and went on to doing other things.

 

Meanwhile, I have been reading a science fiction novel. I was impressed by the author’s worldbuilding in this story. It made me think about ideas for worldbuilding with my own story.

 

And the more I explored my story’s “world,” the stronger my story grew. And the easier it was for me to figure out the rest of the story!

 

Soon, I had ideas on what should happen next in the story. I grabbed my phone, opened the notes app, and furiously started typing.

 

And even as I managed to finish writing the rest of my story, I couldn’t figure out a name for my creature. (Yes, I have done research on naming fantasy creatures as well.) I came up empty by borrowing words from languages, so I started to play around with ideas in mythology, since my creature is mythical and there are actually creatures just like this in other world mythologies.

 

Well, that ended up being another rabbit hole I went down. I explored what my creature represented in Australian mythology, Greek mythology and Egyptian mythology. Soon I had a list of words and names and decided to just combine two or three words to make one.

 

I didn’t want my creature’s name to be long, complicated, or unpronounceable. I kept this in mind as I created a word.

 

Let me just say that I love to play word games, Scrabble, Boggle, anagrams, etc. You name it. This came in handy as I worked on creating a name for my creature.

 

I took three words from Greek mythology which represented my creature’s themes (since my characters had Greek names) and got to work. Soon I had a word I was happy with. The problem? A business already had that name. ARGH! So I tried again, Googling my word each time. After many attempts, and double checks that this word didn’t already exist, I had my creature’s name. Yay!

 

Now that I had a name for this thing, I could get back to writing this story. I ended up revising what I wrote last night and also added more information to the myth surrounding the creature in that story’s world.

 

Then I was DONE! YAY!

 

I even texted my son, “I FINISHED MY STORY!!!!!” Yes, I was very excited about this. My story was FINALLY complete and I was very happy with it!

 

I submitted my story right before the deadline. Now I am excited to share this story with everyone. I’m so glad I didn’t give up on it!

 

Keep Writing No Matter What

 

Sometimes it’s hard to keep writing. There are rejections, writer’s block, criticism and lack of any notice for all the work you do to get published or have some kind of footing in the writing community.

 

It can be difficult times to get through. And it can be pretty disheartening for all the work done but it seems like nobody is interested or cares.

 

But that’s not an excuse to give up on writing. Your desire to write must be stronger than the results you gain from your writing. Your desire to write must be stronger than anything else in the world trying to crush it. Your desire to write must stay strong and keep going even if you aren’t making money from it.

 

You have to be the kind of writer who keeps writing no matter what life throws at you. The kind of writer who will still keep writing and creating and submitting despite all the odds. The kind of writer who is unstoppable.

 

The kind of writer who will keep writing no matter what.

 

It’s not about getting published.

It’s not about earning thousands of dollars from your work and your efforts.

It’s not about fame and popularity.

 

It’s about the writing.

Always has been and always will be.

 

As a writer, you owe it to yourself to heed your muse. Keep creating something, even something new, and keep going. Keep. Writing.

 

Write during the good times.

Write during the bad times.

Write when you are happy and write when you are sad.

 

The only thing guaranteed to you in life is your gift for writing. Your skill with words. Your talent to weave together stories and create amazing works for others to read. That is your power: Your gift to write. That is the one thing that will never be destroyed no matter how many rejections you receive and no matter how long it takes to get published.

 

Opportunity needs to find you working. If you truly believe in yourself and your ability to write, then keep writing. You never know what kind of opportunity will come along while you stay busy writing and writing. So keep it up and keep writing.

 

Things may be bad in your life right now. You may be hurting a lot. But writing will give you the comfort you seek. Just by writing, you will be able to find the relief and comfort that you need. Just by writing, you can get rid of the stress and anxiety. Just by writing, you can find the strength to let go of your burdens and heal your pain.

 

Writing is the one thing you can always have with you when things are not going so great. You may lose everything, but you won’t lose your gift to write. It may disappear for a while, but it will come back. Meanwhile, keep trying to write anyway.

 

Keep writing no matter what. No matter the obstacles, the roadblocks, the failures and criticism. Write. Keep writing. And never stop writing.

Try a Writing Challenge

 

Are you dealing with writer’s block?

 

Struggling with a creativity block?

 

At a loss of what to write?

 

Then try a writing challenge!

 

There are so many different kinds of writing challenges out there for all kinds of writers. There are daily, weekly, monthly and yearly challenges that can get writers writing! Just search for “writing challenge” with your favorite search engine and you’ll see a lot of them turn up.

 

You can also use writing prompts to help you get writing. These can also be a part of your writing challenge.

 

I love doing writing challenges. I have been doing them for years and they are lots of fun. For the most part, they are not really “challenges” per se, because they usually give me something to write, which is what I enjoy doing. This blog post series is part of my writing challenge for September (to post about writing every day). And some of the books I have written were the products of writing challenges. I am also currently doing a year-long challenge: writing and publishing an ebook for every month of the year.

 

I love doing writing challenges so much that I even self-pubbed an ebook called The Big Book of Writing Challenges.

 

A writing challenge may not always help a writer get out of a creativity block, but they can certainly help to get the writer thinking about putting words onto the paper. Plus, it gives writers something to write every day, if writing every day is a goal they are trying to achieve.

In addition to a writing challenge, you can also throw in a challenge on top of a challenge! In addition to writing something you were challenged to write, make it an even better challenge by aiming for a particular word count. I often keep track of how many words I write for certain things, and if I’m not satisfied with that number of words, then I challenge myself to write more! I say to myself something like “I wonder if I can turn those 325 words into 500 words” and when I try to do just that, I often manage to go even higher than the word count goal I set for myself.

 

You don’t need to do this as well for your own writing challenges, but it is one way to make your writing challenge a little more interesting. Plus, you just might be surprised when discovering what else you manage to write when you push yourself to reach a certain word count, or even go beyond it.

 

The next time you are presented with a writing challenge, stick out your chest, hold your head high and say, “Challenge accepted!” No matter how intimidating, impossible or crazy a writing challenge may seem, give it a try and see where your creativity takes you.

 

The next time you struggle with trying to write, consider trying a writing challenge. You can focus your search on the type of writing challenge you want to take on or the kind that you need which can help you out with whatever you are stuck on in your work.

 

A writing challenge can be a fun diversion for writers and it just might inspire a writer to come up with a new idea for something else to write.