S.L. Viehl, author of Dream Called Time, blogs at Paperback Writer about that ever-present enemy of creative sorts -- fatigue. Excerpts: It's not unusual for writers to be stressed out -- it's kind of an occupational hazard -- but lately I've noticed some unusual signs of fatigue popping up around the blogosphere. It's not just people neglecting their blogs or virtually disappearing for weeks at a time, either (that I blame on Twitter.) I've noticed regular comments by folks out there in NetPubLand who mention being tired or just plain sound tired. A lot.Read the whole thing. Viehl goes on to talk about specific ways in which she deals with physical, mental and creative exhaustion while managing kids, career and life. Now anyone who's read ISLF for a while knows that I don't believe in writer's block. But I do think we can get so tired in one way or another that jotting down even a few hundred words feels like digging the Grand Canyon with a spork. Indeed (to get a little confessional), I've been struggling with just that over the past three or four months. And while many of Viehl's suggestions (such as spending less time on social networking) are quite good, others strike me as less practical. If I gave up caffeine in order to boost my physical stamina, as she suggests, it would only take an unsettled night or two courtesy of a teething infant for my central nervous system to turn to putty.
I can sympathize. At the moment I'm trying to kill a deadline after an insanely busy release week and two separate huge family events, and frankly? I'm wiped. I'd like nothing better than to put up one of my "Off to Write" posts, unplug and hole up in my writing space until this novel is out of here. I can even see myself coming back from the post office to collapse on the nearest horizontal surface and not move until the moon enters a new phase.
So, dear readers, I turn the question to you. How do you keep on writing when other obligations press down on you?
(Picture: CC 2008 by Polina Sergeeva; Hat Tip: Nathan Bransford - Literary Agent)
17 comments:
I know sounds strange and weird. But i "write" in my mind. Thinking in a screen filling itself with the thing i wish/must write. Helps me to keep strong the typing muscle.
About the caffeine, i only use it sometimes. But not in coffee form, i use it in soda form. Witout sugar. Or tea. I love tea.
And the last resort, i take a walk, even if the gates of hell are open and is raining like Noak will show up in his Ark.
I like the idea of writing in one's mind. Tell me, how far (in terms of length) are you able to get with it? I know Solzhenitsyn wrote entire plays in his head while in the gulag, but I tend to lose track three or four sentences in.
Like Deka I am always writing in my mind although I am not conscious of it until I sit down and these words come out without much thought. I know my mind has been at work even when my body was not.
But I do get the tired thing too. I spend so much of my life in front of a computer, just my butt on the chair grows tired.
Lenght you say? Well, about in portions (sorry, i don't know if is the correct word. English is not my native language)of more or less 600 words. More if i'm in the mood.
Patti,
I'm discovering that good, solid physical exertion helps clear my mind. I've started doing some yard work in the evenings (only time when the sun doesn't broil me alive), and it seems to help my mental state. Gets me over office fatigue.
Deka,
Whatever your mother tongue, you're doing far better with English than many native speakers I know!
Six-hundred words a pop? Wow. I'm pretty impressed by that.
Really? Thanks! I must recognizemy english is self-taught (with a little help from my wonderful girlfriend).
By the way, i'm from Spain (and sick of the cursed soccer horns), if you weant to know. About the words... is all practice,like a samurai and his sword ;)
When I was in practice on the stage, I could hold big chunks of dialogue and cues and staging with little difficulty. However I can't mentally create more than 2-3 sentences and remember them with any accuracy unless I record them.
I also can't play chess.
Deka,
Speaking of the vuvuzela, I rather like this picture.
B.,
Ditto for me both on the mental-writing and chess fronts.
XDDD How the people came wth this type of idea?
I find after a long day of brain work, some body work (exercise/yardwork) is certainly emotionally satisfying, of not always immediately creatively energizing. I do enjoy the mindless body tasks that allow for working and daydreaming at the same time though. Those are good for the creative side.
This is maybe a little dated, but pretty good audio on the subject of fatigue:
That V poster was hilarious. My problem is that I only ever write in my head. I was always afraid I was forgetting some line or stage direction, also cannot play chess, and probably will never make a good Samurai.
well, i have another "trick": Fridays 8don't ask why, simply is the day i choose) only write ideas for characters, senteneces what sounds good, titles ... things like that...
Ollwen, i also make a bit of exercise. Well, in fact, i take a walk every day. You know, is no good stay all day indoors. And since i live in a rural zone, with plenty of trees and stuff like that, well, miss it could be a bad idea.
Sam,
That podcast looks rather interesting! I think I'll go ahead and download it.
Deka,
Scrounging up incidentals (such as bits of characters and striking titles) sounds like a good idea. Those little pieces can often be motivators for larger works.
Loren. Yeah, For example, from this: (translated, of course): "The man wore a blue jumpsuit with googles and a viking sword", was born the foirst draft of my personal homage tu pulp heroes like The Spider.
The second draft was better and the ultimate, thank god.
I try very hard not to look at my old drafts once I'm done with them. They tend to depress me.
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