I’ve got two major writing projects I’m working on: my PhD (or at least a chapter thereof) and a novel/some short stories. Obviously the PhD is of a higher priority but I am still doing research and so on, and would like to just get a start on the basic ‘structural’ chapter.
I love writing when I do it; I am feeling compelled to write, right now, but when I sit in front of the blank computer screen, it doesn’t come.
I can write outlines for ages, but continuous prose completely eludes me.
What to do? How to break the cycle? I know what I want to say, I have some idea how I want to say it, but that blank white page just makes me crumble. And run screaming to the internet, where I can waste time for hours.
I thought I would ask in MPSIMS because you motivated NaNoWriMo people are in here!
I find that when I’m stuck, the best thing to do is to get something–anything–on the page.
In your case, since you have outlines, I’d suggest putting the outline on the page, then start making it more detailed. Add bullet points, then expand the bullet points into sentences. Build paragraphs around those. Even if it’s choppy and badly formatted, it’s better than a blank page. You can edit it once you get all the ideas down.
Annie Lamott, in her book, Bird by Bird(wonderful for writers, btw) calls these shitty first drafts. No one will see them. They will live on only in your memory, so put anything down–ANYTHING. I mean grocery list, things you hated in HS, all your dogs names, girls you’ve lied to, girls you wish you’d lied to etc.
That’s what works for me (unpublished author, so take that for what it’s worth).
Yes, I’d agree. The best thing is just to get something down, anything at all. Then you can start expanding or changing it.
It’s a lot easier now with word processing. Editing stuff is magically easy. I wrote my Ph.D. thesis on an electric typewriter (fortunately with a correction ribbon, which I got a lot of use out of). There was a lot of crumpled paper on the floor.
I don’t much like this systerm, because I think I come up with crap, but my reason for being unable to start is that I know I usually don’t edit, and what I’ll write down is final, and that scares me. So I tell myself - this is just a draft. I’m going to totally rework it, it doesn’t matter if it’s crap, it just needs to get written. Of course, 85% of the time it’s a lie, but it gets me going.
… of course, tonight is part of the 15%, when I am decidedly NOT working on my PhD candidacy essay. What’s yours on?
Tell us something about what you want to write about. We will probably ask some questions. Perhaps you might consider answering them. Some of you answers may well bring some more questions, and you will start to see your way through to a for formal and effecient structure to present your information.
Or maybe not. Maybe your PhD topic is about the most boring topic in the world to eveyone else here.
Heh. I used to never edit but then I got a supervisor who will not let me get away with the slightest thing. Which is good thing, yes ma’am.
My PhD is on documents depicting magic contests between religious figures in the 2nd-5th c. CE. The chapter I am attempting to work on is the first chapter where I set out the boring shit such as the history of these documents and why I have selected the documents that I have - not the introduction where I get to expostulate grandly on all my theories. Maybe I should try writing a bit of a different chapter first?
Hmm. The novel I want to get started on is loosely based on the life of my grandfather, so… ew.
Thanks for all the suggestions so far…keep em coming. If you want to ask me more detailed questions I’m happy to answer, though I do don’t know how interesting my answers will be. There is at least one talking dog and one cursing baby in my PhD thesis, though!
Bingo. To hell with the first page. You can write the first page anytime. Start with something fun, or something that you’ve already written out in your head. I always make sure I have at least ten sections of a novel practically written in my head before I even turn on the computer. When I actually start writing, I begin with the juiciest bits, the stuff that’s all perfectly formed and just begging to get on the page. Before I know it, I’ve got forty pages and I’ve also had a great idea for page one.
That’s the way a friend of mine with 2 major press published book writes. Get the interesting scenes down and then fill in the gaps.
I’m adopting a fresh approach to my new novel. I’m going to start a thread whining on about how hard it is to write a novel and how much money I should be paid to do it and then wait for Dio The Cynic to turn up and offer to knock it out to show how easy it is.
Awesome! Oh, Late Antiquity and its wackiness. My undergrad thesis was in Late Antiquity, but I’m sticking to the Republic now, thank you. Definitely just write what you can, but I would definitely be trying to write the source chapter first, too. I usually write it not just for my audience, but to get my own thoughts about that down before I start to expostulate.
Write some dialogue. Write the dialogue between a sympathetic and genuinely interested interviewer/counsellor interviewing YOU about why you’re having difficulty writing. The interviewer tries to help by asking questions to establish exactly what you’re trying to write about, exactly where the problem lies, and what options might work. You can change the style of this dialogue at any point, and make it as serious or as silly as you want.
You won’t complete more than two pages of this dialogue before you’re keen to abandon it and work productively on the actual writing you want to accomplish.
I heart Late Antiquity. I actually laughed out loud a few times whilst writing my Master’s. What was your undergrad thesis on? And your PhD? I like the Republic too, esp. for the Latin class I teach. Cicero is da bomb.
This seems like a really good idea. I like writing dialogue most of all, as well, so that seems like a good way in.
I actually hate Cicero. Hate hate hate. He’s such a self-important loser! Of course, I’ve picked a dissertation topic that requires I read everything he ever wrote and base most of my research on it. Don’t ask me why.
My undergrad thesis was on all those riots in Alexandria in the 4th and 5th centuries, and now I’m working on Late Republican political history. It’s fun, if a little overdone (Caesar! Pompey! Sulla!). Especially since I’m trying to write a 5 page summary of the historiography of my field at the moment. Urk.
