Quote:
Originally Posted by mjhudston
But apparently not. I'm trying to write my second short story and for the past 18 months, nothing. I know I gave a full time job to hold down and pay the bills, but I used to do a chapter a month.
Anyone any ideas as to a remedy?
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OK, years and years ago, when you could find his e-mail address on line and he'd write back to you, I asked Terry Pratchett something like this. To paraphrase because I lost the original years ago, basically he said.
Write, write and write and when you've finished write some more. If there's nothing there write about how you can't think of anything to say, write about how bloody annoying it is not to be able to write. It's not important what you write just that you keep doing it, say something on paper every day, whatever it is, and the rest will sort itself out.
Second a quote from an interesting BBC programm I saw about writing. The guy said. "Nothing in plumbing is forced, so it is with writing." He went on to say that if you get stuck, put the thing you're working on away for a while and write something else, rest, relax, forget about it and the solution will come. Hmm... pretty similar to Sir Terry then.
For me, I know it means there's something direly wrong with the plot and I either don't know or can't face up to what it is. It usually happens a third or so into writing a new book. I'm there right now, with a scene I badly need to rewrite but at the moment it's not happening. I write, literally, a couple of sentences a day, so if I can't sort this it means there's something wrong. For me, the only way to solve the problem is to sit tight, put it to the back of my mind and let my subconscious sort it out. It may take months but usually it comes up with a solution or at the least some interesting scenes for another book.
Anyway, good luck chuck. I hope these ideas give you some food for thought even if they don't work for you.
Cheers
MTM