I’ve been working on my short story, Island of Trees, since I first got the idea for it during my trip to Nepal - two years ago. I’ve changed the main character four times, I’ve changed the perspective three times, I’ve changed the ending, the sequence, and the motivation countless times. I love the concept so much that I want to do it justice.
It seems that with every creative endeavor there is a fun period when you’re on a high and you feel so darn clever. And then the real work sets in.
Last night Mike was getting frustrated with his film scoring, and I was getting equally frustrated with my writing. When this feeling starts it’s so easy to stop working and turn on the t.v. Although it’s so annoying, we both acknowledged that the only thing to do is keeping producing – even if you think you’re making crap.
Whenever I reread something that I thought was garbage I’m always surprised by how good it is. Ok, it’s not always good, but at least I have something to work with. And here’s my tip:
It’s easier to work with shit than to work with nothing at all.
It’s almost like brainstorming; you have to throw out a bunch of ideas without any judgement, and then when you have a fresh mind you can start making it better.
Related articles
- Kurt Vonnegut’s Eight Tips on How to Write a Good Short Story (openculture.com)
- Write Till You Cry (newauthors.wordpress.com)
Right you are! You’re one wise cookie!
Gee, I’ve often found it the other way – read something I thought was great only to find it is garbage … but yes, working with something is easier than working with nothing.
I definitely have some pieces that seemed a lot better when I wrote them – we definitely have a fresher critical eye after some time.
Had this happen just the other day. I started prepping an article for a magazine publication and thought – this isn’t going anywhere. Looked at it a few weeks later and it was littered with potential. That, or I got desperate to create something…anything, We shall see. Great thoughts, thank you.
I’m going to agree with the former reason
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