The ebb and flow of creativity

[mantonrichards]

Today, part 5 of my ongoing story was publish. The previous 4 parts, each around 19-20k words were written relatively quickly, around a week or two for each, with perhaps another few days of editing on top of that.

This last part took me MONTHS. I have no explanation why, as I'm just as passionate about the story and haven't yet run out of ideas. At times it has seemed like I'm having to squeeze each word out, and I've been lucky to complete a sentence each day. And all along I've been busily pruning and shaping, never satisfied with the wording. I'd about convinced myself that what I was writing was going to bomb; a dud; a turkey. As I read and re-read the draft I started to hate it, and became ever the perfectionist. Now that it is out an appears (though early days) to have a reasonable reception, I've read it myself and am actually very pleased with it.

Now part 6 is magically writing itself, the words flying out of my brain at warp speed, and I've literally written a third of it in a day, which only a week ago would have seemed impossible.

For clarity, I didn't beat myself up about the slow progress that I was having for months, as I accept that it is inevitable for all authors. I'm just curious if anyone has any insights into why the process stalls and miraculously starts again. Is it possible to have too high an expectation of ones own work? And is the quality of the final product often a surprise to others?

 

[KeithD]

I'd about convinced myself that what I was writing was going to bomb; a dud; a turkey.

This may be the focal point of what you see as a problem. Far too many post on the discussion board of considering what "readers" will think of what they're writing far too early in the process. Concentrate on what's turning you on in writing at least until you have a draft and have reviewed it. What others thinking or even where you'll try to submit it should come later (or maybe almost not at all).

 

[mantonrichards]

This may be the focal point of what you see as a problem. Far too many post on the discussion board of considering what "readers" will think of what they're writing far too early in the process. Concentrate on what's turning you on in writing at least until you have a draft and have reviewed it. What others thinking or even where you'll try to submit it should come later (or maybe almost not at all).

Oh I do write for myself. When I speak of failure, I mean in my eyes.

 

[Djmac1031]

I can relate to this on so many levels.

The only thing I've learned is to walk away from a story for awhile if it's becoming a struggle.

Come back to it with fresh eyes later.

I don't believe there's a difference in quality between a story that comes easy and one we struggle with, though.

I think most of my BEST stories have been a struggle on some level.

 

[ElectricBlue]

For clarity, I didn't beat myself up about the slow progress that I was having for months, as I accept that it is inevitable for all authors. I'm just curious if anyone has any insights into why the process stalls and miraculously starts again. Is it possible to have too high an expectation of ones own work? And is the quality of the final product often a surprise to others?

The ebb and flow of creativity is typical, I think. You have different levels of energy In your day to day existence, so why would a creative flow be any different?

If you don't set your own bar high you can't fly, because you keep tripping over it. And it's when you surprise yourself that matters - the reaction from others is a bonus.

Sounds like "situation normal" to me.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

Today, part 5 of my ongoing story was publish. The previous 4 parts, each around 19-20k words were written relatively quickly, around a week or two for each, with perhaps another few days of editing on top of that.

This last part took me MONTHS. I have no explanation why, as I'm just as passionate about the story and haven't yet run out of ideas. At times it has seemed like I'm having to squeeze each word out, and I've been lucky to complete a sentence each day. And all along I've been busily pruning and shaping, never satisfied with the wording. I'd about convinced myself that what I was writing was going to bomb; a dud; a turkey. As I read and re-read the draft I started to hate it, and became ever the perfectionist. Now that it is out an appears (though early days) to have a reasonable reception, I've read it myself and am actually very pleased with it.

Now part 6 is magically writing itself, the words flying out of my brain at warp speed, and I've literally written a third of it in a day, which only a week ago would have seemed impossible.

For clarity, I didn't beat myself up about the slow progress that I was having for months, as I accept that it is inevitable for all authors. I'm just curious if anyone has any insights into why the process stalls and miraculously starts again. Is it possible to have too high an expectation of ones own work? And is the quality of the final product often a surprise to others?

I think most creativity has elements of manic-depression.

If we look at creators like Stephen Fry and Spike Milligan they had moments were they were just writing and creating so much stuff but then bouts of mind-crippling doubt and anxiety over their works.

Van Gogh’s time of living with Gauguin was marked with hostility and hatred between the two but also was marked with a huge creative explosion.

Treasure the long creative spreads and hope the droughts are few and short, but acceptance that it does happen will at least give you the gift of understanding yourself.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Today, part 5 of my ongoing story was publish. The previous 4 parts, each around 19-20k words were written relatively quickly, around a week or two for each, with perhaps another few days of editing on top of that.

This last part took me MONTHS. I have no explanation why, as I'm just as passionate about the story and haven't yet run out of ideas. At times it has seemed like I'm having to squeeze each word out, and I've been lucky to complete a sentence each day. And all along I've been busily pruning and shaping, never satisfied with the wording. I'd about convinced myself that what I was writing was going to bomb; a dud; a turkey. As I read and re-read the draft I started to hate it, and became ever the perfectionist. Now that it is out an appears (though early days) to have a reasonable reception, I've read it myself and am actually very pleased with it.

Now part 6 is magically writing itself, the words flying out of my brain at warp speed, and I've literally written a third of it in a day, which only a week ago would have seemed impossible.

For clarity, I didn't beat myself up about the slow progress that I was having for months, as I accept that it is inevitable for all authors. I'm just curious if anyone has any insights into why the process stalls and miraculously starts again. Is it possible to have too high an expectation of ones own work? And is the quality of the final product often a surprise to others?

I'll weigh in as best I can. So you have a series here, not a stand-alone story, and in experience a series is always a more difficult project to deal with. Some people advocate planning out everything in advance but I've never had the patience for that.

I see on your submission list that this is your first project on Lit, and I'd say it's going well. You just started in January, which isn't that long ago for these kinds of things. Then you had that gap until you began again in May.

Getting hung-up like that in the middle of series is quite common - inevitable, as you say - and I've had that myself. It's hard to pinpoint exactly why people's motivation suddenly comes back. It's not a miracle, more like intuitive processes going on below the surface of consciousness.

You choose to start off with 20,000 word chapters. Have you published elsewhere? In any case, wow, I didn't attempt anything that ambitious at the start. Even my series chapters don't go above 10,000 words at most.

So I think you're doing fine. Don't knock your work while you're still creating it. (Save that for after publication! ) And don't be overly concerned about the reception it will get. (Save that for later too when you see how things shake out.) If you are pleased with it, that's the most important factor.

 

[mantonrichards]

I'll weigh in as best I can. So you have a series here, not a stand-alone story, and in experience a series is always a more difficult project to deal with. Some people advocate planning out everything in advance but I've never had the patience for that.

I see on your submission list that this is your first project on Lit, and I'd say it's going well. You just started in January, which isn't that long ago for these kinds of things. Then you had that gap until you began again in May.

Getting hung-up like that in the middle of series is quite common - inevitable, as you say - and I've had that myself. It's hard to pinpoint exactly why people's motivation suddenly comes back. It's not a miracle, more like intuitive processes going on below the surface of consciousness.

You choose to start off with 20,000 word chapters. Have you published elsewhere? In any case, wow, I didn't attempt anything that ambitious at the start. Even my series chapters don't go above 10,000 words at most.

So I think you're doing fine. Don't knock your work while you're still creating it. (Save that for after publication! ) And don't be overly concerned about the reception it will get. (Save that for later too when you see how things shake out.) If you are pleased with it, that's the most important factor.

Thanks, you have made me feel a lot better!

And yes, I have written before, but not published. I was not actually sure that it would be a series until I was well into the process of writing the first part when I realised that I wouldn't be about to finish it within a manageable chunk. And then as I wrote, other ideas came along and the rest almost wrote itself. Which was why it was such a shock when the creativity dried up.

 

[MillieDynamite]

More ebb for me, of late, than flow. As suggested by others, you must write through the block. Do what you can. Maybe read something written by others to inspire your juices. But writing can be a job, work, some drudgery even. Stick with it, and the flow will return.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Thanks, you have made me feel a lot better!

And yes, I have written before, but not published. I was not actually sure that it would be a series until I was well into the process of writing the first part when I realised that I wouldn't be about to finish it within a manageable chunk. And then as I wrote, other ideas came along and the rest almost wrote itself. Which was why it was such a shock when the creativity dried up.

You're welcome. Publishing on-line is different from print. Once you start going over some point - 50,000 words? - people's attention spans start to drop unless it's broken into smaller parts. I have no idea why that is true. Although 1,000 page novels can be a bit daunting too. Was it really necessary to write that much?

Creatively can be unpredictable. I've got a couple of series on another site that are within a couple of chapters of being finished but for the moment I've lost interest in them.

One gimmick I've used, if I'm not sure of where I'm going, is to just write stand-alone sequels. (Link them to the previous story, or all of them if you wish.) That way I don't feel the pressure to wrap up all of it. Strangely, in one case I did wrap it up without really planning it.