Writers Block - The Dynamic Introvert

Writing Is Hard Work But Worth It

By Lesley TaylorPosted on December 3, 2024Posted in IntrovertsTagged Introverts, Jesse Q. Sutanto, John Green, Writers Block, Writers Digest

Is writing easier for introverts? Great writers know that spending time alone working on their craft is the key to success. For this reason writing may provide the perfect career choice for introverts. As best-selling author John Green said, “Writing is something you do alone.” But just because we are introverts and enjoy spending time alone doesn’t mean we will become great writers or that we will find writing easy. Writing is hard work! I love to write and over the years I’ve written blog posts, articles and a non-fiction book which I self-published. Now I’m working on my first novel. During the pandemic I started my novel with a bang. I thought I was doing all the right things (more about this in future posts) but what I didn’t anticipate was writer’s block. About halfway through the first draft of my manuscript I ran out of gas, juice, enthusiasm. Call it what you will but I had hit the wall. I couldn’t write. What was I afraid of? Years ago when I published The Dynamic Introvert: Leading Quietly with Passion and Purpose I expected (hoped) people would read my work and I wanted it to be perfect. After publishing The Dynamic Introvert I found myself waking up at night thinking “what have I done?” I was terrified of being criticized. More recently I’ve been looking into what creates writers block and came across the blog A Brilliant Mind written by Dr. Gayannee Kedia who is a neuroscientist, psychologist and mentor. Dr. Kedia’s on-line questionnaire and guide helped me understand that the root of my writer’s block is perfectionism. Perfectionism and writing don’t mix. And this might explain why I stopped writing for over a year. Deep down inside I was afraid of being criticized. And this criticism can feel like we are being attacked personally. No matter what we write it will be personal on some level. We will leave a part of ourself on the page in full view for others to see. Memoirs are probably the most personal but no matter what genre, our writing is an expression of who we are. Is There An Answer? In my pursuit of an answer I came across a lot of suggestions from other writers. Finally I started doing timed-writings: 15 minutes became 30 minutes and 30 minutes became an hour. I discovered this idea in a Writer’s Digest interview with Jesse Q. Sutanto author of Dial A for Murder and other best selling books. When writing her books Jesse uses a timer to keep her on track. Each day she does 4 x 15 minute sessions during which time she writes 2000 words. And then she stops. No editing. She goes on to something else and then the next day she repeats the process. I also kept reading about “the messy first draft” and it finally hit me. I just need to keep writing even if it’s nonsense. I don’t think anyone actually said this but that’s how I interpret it. Keep going! I have to remind myself to get those 85,000 words on the page and then I can start editing. Writing may be perfect for introverts but it won’t necessarily be easy. What works for you? How do you keep going day after day, month after month? Happy writing!

Writing About Writing

By Lesley TaylorPosted on November 21, 2024Posted in IntrovertsTagged Introvert, Mystery, Writers Block, Writing

Yesterday I attended a presentation hosted by the Vancouver Writers Fest. The speaker, Daniel Levitin — psychologist, neuroscientist, musician and best-selling author, told the audience that it was not unusual for him to write 50 drafts of a manuscript before moving onto the next step. 50 drafts! Hearing Levitin’s confession I was suddenly taken back to a writer’s festival in Richmond many years ago. One of the authors presenting told the audience that it took him 10 years to finish his book. I remember thinking how ridiculous. But, since then I have come across successful authors who have taken even longer from start to finish usually with years when there was no writing going on at all. I’m not that young and don’t have the luxury of taking 10 or more years to finish my book. But I am now feeling that it’s time to continue working on my manuscript. The challenge for me will be to make it messy and focus on getting the words on the page. I have been struggling to finish the first draft of my novel The Mexican Connection. This is the working title of course and I’m pretty sure it will change more than once before its published. Perhaps it’s an understatement to say that I’ve been struggling. After a pretty good start in which I wrote 45,000 words I stopped writing period. I stopped writing blog posts, I stopped writing articles and sadly I stopped writing my novel. Writing is a confusing venture at the best of times. But writing a mystery novel can be tricky. As with any novel you need an intriguing story that makes readers want to keep turning the pages. But you also need to keep the reader guessing. Who is the villain? What’s the story behind the story? You have to create a challenging whodunit but not so challenging that readers can’t solve the crime. Everyone has their reasons for hitting the wall. I think I was trying too hard to write the perfect first draft. In the meantime, I’m learning the craft of writing mysteries.