I envy myself in the past, in terms of writing...sorta!

All Things Writing
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NGL, I still am in a bit of shock on how I manage to finish a novel for the first time. Yes. I could’ve gone on longer with the story, but I stopped at over 70K. Still, the overall point is that I was able to each over what I normally do for stories. I was able to even finish it, regardless of if I could go longer with the story. I did it and that made me happy!

Now, I want to do it again, but I want to be kinder to my body and mental state. Back then I just hyper focused through the whole story while I was at my worst, mentally. My body also suffered too, because I would get back, shoulder, and ass pains from just getting into the zones, no breaks.

I don’t want to do that to myself anymore. I want to use the same story format I used for The House of Naivin again, but with a new story.

So, I just need to help in getting some advice on what to do. I know I want to do sprints and give myself breaks to recharge.

I just envy myself back then, because I was able to push through it. I just want to relive that all over again. I still don’t get what about this story kept me going, because honestly, it was a bit terrible. I know I did not edit it for another draft, yet I spent ALL OF MY ENERGY that getting to that second draft never happened.

I don’t want to do that to myself. So, tell me, how could you help me out?

Thoughts and feelings?

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@J.L.O
@rachelsfloetry
@copyedit
@Xelyn_Craft
@AMMeyers
@alenatenjo
@NotARussianBot
@NatilladeCoco

Got tips? Can you help out a friend if you could?

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Yeah, I’m probably the last person you want advice from :joy:

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I appreciate you letting me know! Would you mind breezing around to see the advice and feedback, if something resonates with you, or no?

If not, thanks for stopping by and being honest with me!

:grin: :blush:

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I can pass on advice others have given me (including other writers and my former professors)

  • take regular breaks from the screen
  • stay hydrated
  • stretch
  • take walking breaks (even if it’s just walking around the room)
  • set reasonable goals for things such as word count

And finally:

  • if you are really in the zone and ignore this advice, we will not judge. Just know it will come back to get you eventually :relieved:
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fam i think you’re overthinking this stuff, like a lot all the time.

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I think I can tell you something :grin:

The Last Princess of Atlia was so hard to write for some reason, yet, I put it up for a NaNo and forced myself through it. It was so hard. idk what was wrong with that one. I couldn’t find that sweet spot where I can just zip through a story.

Before Atlia, I wrote The Rat Girl, and it was a smooth ride. One thing after another, ideas just swam into my head and down to my fingers. I was on a roll.

I think writing the Atlia story was hard because up until then, I was doing a lot of editing and not writing stories from scratch. The muscles in my brain used for drafting new stories was stiff. I feel like it has unstiffened now.

To you, I would say, give yourself time. It’s not like you have a deadline.

And, don’t fret if you can’t do what you did before. Don’t think “I can’t do what I did before.” The better mindset is to think that YES, IT IS POSSIBLE. Because the good news is that you did it once, you can always do it again. It might take time to get there, but you can do it. Now that you know you can, give yourself time to digest everything.

Meanwhile, work slowly. A page at a time, a paragraph at a time, do it in small doses. Don’t strive for perfection. As the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day. But you know, Rome WAS built eventually. You’ll get there again. Eventually. Give yourself time.

This mindset is something I’ve recently been practicing. When I wrote the Atlia story, it was stressing me out how I wasn’t enjoying it, and I was jealous of my past self for breezing through drafts. But that mindset was becoming my downfall. I had to tell myself, “Hey, Enna, you did it many times before. You CAN do it. So, take your time. You’ll get there again.”

Going to say it to you again: you did it once means you CAN do it again. Possibility. That’s a wonderful thing to learn about yourself :blush:

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Really? How so?

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If you’re getting a day where you don’t have the urge to write, and it’s been 5, 6 days of it, don’t write that day. Take care of needs.

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So it’s a matter of focus? Does music help or hurt your focus? I’ve been working my way through AccRadio playlists.

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Thank ya kindly!

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I understand, but you know the feeling of living on “borrowed time”, because I feel that way a lot.

I can’t quite explain it, but time seems to be short with the older I get.

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Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it.

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It’s the anxiety talking.

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I think it’s important that you’ve recognized that you need to be gentler on yourself. Don’t push yourself to the point that you hate what you’re writing. Writer’s burnout is a real thing. When it happens to me, it leaks into my personal life, my work, etc. Bad things happen. So when I feel it coming, I switch gears, do something else (I’m currently in switch mode).

My advice is to always remember what made you want to write the story in the first place. What sparked the idea? What got you all excited? Let that guide you and motivate you to keep going. Only you can write this specific story. You won’t be able to read it until you write it.

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Anxiety talks too damn much!

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Exactly. It’s like, can I pop meds to cure this but still keep this energy up? I’ve not seen how people handle this.

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I am still not handling it!

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I believe I am on to something major in Project Heir and Knight.
That is all I have to say.

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Yeah, I’m no help here. I’ve fallen off the writing wagon for a while now. When I was consistent, I set an alarm or had an app nag me daily and even if I ignored it, the goal was to write 250 words a day. And if I wrote more, great, if not, then a bulleted list/notes on what I intended to write was enough.

I finished my first novel that way too - having one person comment and look forward to it gave me the dopamine I needed to keep at it. Now that I no longer have that and I need to edit said novel, it’s dead in the water. So if you figure it out, def let me know. For now, I’m just kind of going with the flow. I don’t think forcing it too much is helpful either. If you force it to the point where you start to hate it and it feels like torture, the story is going to be affected for sure. :thinking:

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