Retreats and Mentoring in Writing Part 13 of 15
Welcome to all who are new, great to have you here, feel free to read the comments, and check out what my commenter’s think. Always enlightening. Retreats and Mentoring show that there is always a learning curve. Sometimes though this learning curve has it plateau and hills.
I think that I’ve hit a bit of a plateau. I’ll admit that the last few days have been my least productive days in a very long time. Lack of this, too much of that. Yesterday for me, there was a real lack of sleep; my three year old seems to think that 4am is a wonderful time to be awake and running. I didn’t, although I toyed with the idea that I out her in front of the TV and do some typing. I didn’t and read to her. Of course then I got up a whole lot later than what I’d admit to. I want this book published sometime next year so I need to get it done. Good and Fast.
Therefore, consequently, I didn’t think to clearly and did some edits but more on the creative side of my non-fiction, making it more alive. They didn’t seem as good as my other work. So, perhaps a bit more cutting and pasting will be in order. I find that when I hit these days, I toy more with the idea of going on a retreat. One of those mini-vacations away from the kids, and into my book. BJ’s idea of unplug week seems great but I’ll add a twist. I haven’t thought of it yet, but I’ll get back to you.
As my mentor and writing buddies will say, just keep writing, just keep writing, writing, writing, writing! (See Finding Nemo for the homage and the melody) It’s really the only thing that will get a person out of a slump. Everyone gets them and gets them to varying degrees. It takes an enthusiastic person or a great idea to get out of these slumps. I focus on my goal of publishing, and focus on the success that it will bring me. Not in monetary terms, but in the view that I’ve accomplished something that most people only dream of. The goal is publication, and the joy of seeing your name in print. Of course money is also nice. However, money is not the main goal.
I’ll say this, by writing in the morning, and just writing on topic, I’m more productive today than the last few days. I haven’t done anything different, simply followed advice; my slump as they say is ended. I consider it over due to the fact that I’ve written more words and done more edits this morning than the last three days. I just kept writing.
My Question for you today is this: Do you ever want to break out of a slump by writing? By this I mean do you simply keep writing on the same topic to break out of the slump?
4 Comments
Silver
i don't really know for sure if i want to break out although trying something new could be a refreshing change.
But i say, it's still safer to stick to what you know best.
B.J. Anderson
Yeah, I've definitely had slumps and I just have to keep going to get past it. Then I go back to the stuff I wrote during the slump and try to fix it. And bring on the money, lol! I would love to be able to make a living with my writing.
AmberInGlass
Sometimes, I push myself through it, and then go back later and have alot of fixing up to do, like B.J. said. Othertimes, I'll set aside a project and start something new just so that I am still continuing to write something. The latter can be problematic though, no matter how good the new idea is, I always feel like I am betraying myself and my other project for doing it, but sometimes taking a break does some good.
Rob
Whenever I'm in a slump on one story, I just move on to the next story. In some cases it's easier and makes for some good practice.
Trouble finishing that 500 page novel? Just start a two page short story and see where it takes you. More often than not, you get back into a writing rhythm and move back to the novel.