I have always struggled hard while writing; may it be an article, report, poem or story. This has been so since the beginning when I started writing as my hobby at 12 years of age. In my head, I know the theme and concept; but starting the initial sentence has never come easy.
Sometimes strong emotions, pain, sensitivity and a simple gesture of kindness are enough to start few lines of a stanza in a poem; which can be imaginary, fiction, based on fact or life experience. This makes it easy to complete a poem if it flows with your thought process. However, this has never been the same for me in the case of writing article, report and poem. Sometimes it takes a month or two to start and sometimes it crosses the limit of a year; making me drop the entire theme and concept.
I hope I am not the only one having to face such a challenge.
Thanx to Bill Wasik who provided an insight on the importance of having a well thought and precise outline before starting anything. He put it very well by saying, "Hone your outline and then cling to it as a lifeline. You can adjust it in mid-stream, but don’t try to just write your way into a better structure: think about the right structure and then write to it. Your outline will get you through those periods when you can’t possibly imagine ever finishing the damn thing — at those times, your outline will let you see it as a sequence of manageable 1,000 word sections."
Another good set of advice that I found in "Henry Miller on Writing" which soothed me more than anything else was the work schedule of Henry Miller himself. The 11 commandments expressed below were the basic for me to focus more on my work than to get diluted and divergent.
"1. Work on one thing at a time until finished
2. Start no more new books, add no more new material to Black Spring
3. Don't be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is in hand
4. Work according to Program and not according to mood. Stop at the appointed time!
5. When you can't create you can work
6. Cement a little every day, rather than add new fertilizers
7. Keep human! See people, go places, drink if you feel like it
8. Don't be a draught-horse! Work with pleasure only
9. Discard the Program when you feel like it - but go back to it next day. Concentrate. Narrow down. Exclude
10. Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing
11. Write first and always. Painting, music, friends, cinema, all these come afterwards
If you have experienced any challenges on writing and various tips you use to overcome it, do share :)
Sometimes strong emotions, pain, sensitivity and a simple gesture of kindness are enough to start few lines of a stanza in a poem; which can be imaginary, fiction, based on fact or life experience. This makes it easy to complete a poem if it flows with your thought process. However, this has never been the same for me in the case of writing article, report and poem. Sometimes it takes a month or two to start and sometimes it crosses the limit of a year; making me drop the entire theme and concept.
I hope I am not the only one having to face such a challenge.
Thanx to Bill Wasik who provided an insight on the importance of having a well thought and precise outline before starting anything. He put it very well by saying, "Hone your outline and then cling to it as a lifeline. You can adjust it in mid-stream, but don’t try to just write your way into a better structure: think about the right structure and then write to it. Your outline will get you through those periods when you can’t possibly imagine ever finishing the damn thing — at those times, your outline will let you see it as a sequence of manageable 1,000 word sections."
"1. Work on one thing at a time until finished
2. Start no more new books, add no more new material to Black Spring
3. Don't be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is in hand
4. Work according to Program and not according to mood. Stop at the appointed time!
5. When you can't create you can work
6. Cement a little every day, rather than add new fertilizers
7. Keep human! See people, go places, drink if you feel like it
8. Don't be a draught-horse! Work with pleasure only
9. Discard the Program when you feel like it - but go back to it next day. Concentrate. Narrow down. Exclude
10. Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing
11. Write first and always. Painting, music, friends, cinema, all these come afterwards
If you have experienced any challenges on writing and various tips you use to overcome it, do share :)
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