I hear you. My issue is when I get stuck, I find I procrastinate more about "doing the work" and end up slowing down but not doing any work for that PB or any other one. I've had times where I have tried hard to get through a block until to get more unhappy -> procrastination -> unhappy and just sort of get stuck in a loop so I end up having to put it in the drawer for months. That usually does the trick. But I agree it is a balance between trying and pausing.
I mean, on the one hand, this sounds like you could be describing a problem, but on the other hand, it sounds like you're describing your process. You're still writing picture books! And some take longer than others. Mostly I like how aware you seem of it, so I think you can step back and think, "ok, wait, is this just that this picture book needs to sit for a while?" rather than getting in that "unhappy" loop.
I think many of us think we could pose a real challenge you to the Queen of Excuses crown. ;) Also, YES re: shoulder time.
It's so tricky, isn't it? Because so much of writing is actually just...thinking? So it's like, what kind of thinking is productive, in some ways? Plus, it's not always clear in the moment what being productive looks like--and I don't even think it's necessarily consistent for any particular person. (Aren't we all really a spectrum of us-ness unto ourselves?) Not that any of this helps, really, I guess. It's more just...I think sometimes we really do just need thought time (even MORE than writing time), and 1) so long as we truly are thinking about the project (not dinner, etc. <--this is my problem), and 2) we don't beat ourselves up about not picking up a pencil (so long as we are actually doing that thinking), then we are probably in good shape? If that makes sense? Because I believe we can't help but write (it's our nature) when we have done enough thinking about a particular project and have a direction to go in. Having said that, it's the pre-writing-thought that is the hardest time to justify--because, essentially, daydreaming--getting lost in our thoughts about a specific thing/scenario/scene, *looks* and *feels* like we are being unproductive, even though that's the most essential thing we do. It LOOKS like laziness, to anyone not inside your head? What a crazy calling writing is. LOL!
In my case, I do think I should chat more with my critique partners about my stories when I'm stuck on them than I do. I often only share stories when they are ready to share, if that makes sense--rather than when I probably need help/outside fresh input the most. Shouldn't that be the reverse, though?
Hugs, lady! They say the most convincing lies are those built on truth, so I guess it makes sense that excuses are also built on that base. :) Tricky, tricky, tricky!
Yeah yeah yeah, the THINKING. I know too that I'm very good at "taking notes" and "freewriting" and those things ARE REALLY IMPORTANT and also they are OFTEN PROCRASTINATORY. Like anything, it's about frequently stepping back, looking at what I'm doing, and asking, "am I doing this right? is this the best way to go about this right this second?" and sometimes the answer is yes, and sometimes it's no.
I recommend talking to your crit partners at all stages. My various crit partners and I definitely do a "I'm going to talk this out" thing, where we talk about the story and what's tripping us up, and 98% of the time, the talker figures out how to fix it just by explaining the problem.
I hear you. My issue is when I get stuck, I find I procrastinate more about "doing the work" and end up slowing down but not doing any work for that PB or any other one. I've had times where I have tried hard to get through a block until to get more unhappy -> procrastination -> unhappy and just sort of get stuck in a loop so I end up having to put it in the drawer for months. That usually does the trick. But I agree it is a balance between trying and pausing.
I mean, on the one hand, this sounds like you could be describing a problem, but on the other hand, it sounds like you're describing your process. You're still writing picture books! And some take longer than others. Mostly I like how aware you seem of it, so I think you can step back and think, "ok, wait, is this just that this picture book needs to sit for a while?" rather than getting in that "unhappy" loop.
I think many of us think we could pose a real challenge you to the Queen of Excuses crown. ;) Also, YES re: shoulder time.
It's so tricky, isn't it? Because so much of writing is actually just...thinking? So it's like, what kind of thinking is productive, in some ways? Plus, it's not always clear in the moment what being productive looks like--and I don't even think it's necessarily consistent for any particular person. (Aren't we all really a spectrum of us-ness unto ourselves?) Not that any of this helps, really, I guess. It's more just...I think sometimes we really do just need thought time (even MORE than writing time), and 1) so long as we truly are thinking about the project (not dinner, etc. <--this is my problem), and 2) we don't beat ourselves up about not picking up a pencil (so long as we are actually doing that thinking), then we are probably in good shape? If that makes sense? Because I believe we can't help but write (it's our nature) when we have done enough thinking about a particular project and have a direction to go in. Having said that, it's the pre-writing-thought that is the hardest time to justify--because, essentially, daydreaming--getting lost in our thoughts about a specific thing/scenario/scene, *looks* and *feels* like we are being unproductive, even though that's the most essential thing we do. It LOOKS like laziness, to anyone not inside your head? What a crazy calling writing is. LOL!
In my case, I do think I should chat more with my critique partners about my stories when I'm stuck on them than I do. I often only share stories when they are ready to share, if that makes sense--rather than when I probably need help/outside fresh input the most. Shouldn't that be the reverse, though?
Hugs, lady! They say the most convincing lies are those built on truth, so I guess it makes sense that excuses are also built on that base. :) Tricky, tricky, tricky!
Yeah yeah yeah, the THINKING. I know too that I'm very good at "taking notes" and "freewriting" and those things ARE REALLY IMPORTANT and also they are OFTEN PROCRASTINATORY. Like anything, it's about frequently stepping back, looking at what I'm doing, and asking, "am I doing this right? is this the best way to go about this right this second?" and sometimes the answer is yes, and sometimes it's no.
I recommend talking to your crit partners at all stages. My various crit partners and I definitely do a "I'm going to talk this out" thing, where we talk about the story and what's tripping us up, and 98% of the time, the talker figures out how to fix it just by explaining the problem.
Definitely going to give myself permission to "talk about the story/talk this or that out" this year! I need to do more of that, for sure!