Sitting Down and Getting it Done

 

I’m happy to report I’m well underway on a new story. It took me long enough. I tried to get one out before this, but things just didn’t work out that way.

I knew if I didn’t get down to work on something, before long, another year (or two) would pass with nothing published. I didn’t want that to happen again.

The problem lies in my process. I often tangle myself up trying to figure out the best way to approach a story. There are times I want to do a full outline of a story, other times I just want to dive in and see where I end up. More often than not, I start out strong with either approach, then somehow problems set in. Before I know it, I’m abandoning whatever it was I was working on and moving on to something else.

It becomes an endless cycle.

The only way I break out of this is to make myself sit down and dig in with determination.

That’s where I’m at right now. Usually, it’s a middle road I end up traveling on. I do some back story on my characters, then write up a very brief, simple outline, then write the story till it’s done. So I’m not really doing a full outline, but I’m not diving in blind either. Maybe this is my clue?

Like most writers, I want to write a great story. One that grabs on to people and won’t let them go. You know the kind I’m talking about. I’ve read them, as I’m sure you have to.

That’s why I try to outline. I think that way I’ll have everything laid out before me, and I can add in all the extra good stuff that really makes a story shine as I write it.

It’s also why I don’t outline sometimes. Often writing a story with no idea where I’m going, making it up as I go along sometimes produces something far greater than I could have ever come up with ahead of time.

I think of the end product, when I should concentrate on the process instead. It is the process where the long-haul work is done. If I’m not enjoying the process, then how can I expect someone to enjoy the product that comes from it?

In the end, no one cares how I created the end product. I could create something that I feel is the greatest masterpiece of all time, and still there would be someone out there that thinks it’s total shit. That’s the way it goes with art. No matter what kind of art it is.

I know all of this, but more often than not, I forget all of this.

No matter the process, there are often bumps in the road. It’s supposed to be that way. Another thing I keep reminding myself. What it really comes down to is whether or not I’m enjoying the process I’m using.

Usually, once I’m deep into a story, all of this goes away. I’m rooted in that story, and want to see it through to the end. When that happens, I’m almost certain to finish something at last.

That is where I’m at with this story. But to get there, I just had to sit down, trust the process and not worry too much about the product. Because regardless, some will love it, others will hate it. That’s just the way it goes.

So, with reminding myself of all of this, I’m hard at work again on a story that I’m confident I’ll finish. It should be out sometime this month. As always, I’m not making promises, but right now it feels good to be writing and more importantly, I’m having fun.