SEVEN WAYS OF SHAPING YOUR WRITING PROCESS

Gearing for another writing project may be one of the most grueling experiences. You've already finished one thing, spent some time considering the options and now time has come to make the next step and it seems like you are not really able to do it. At least the way you want it. Everything seems wrong or suspicious or downright deceptive. This often comes out of lack of self-managing. Writing is the process. And as any other process it needs to be started and properly organized.  Unlike industrial processes where bad start may be the recipe for the disaster - starting poorly in writing just means your start this time was particularly lacking and you need to fix it. The thing is in the way you do the thing.

Here's a little set of advices that may help you to organize your process in a more effective and satisfying way.

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Set Boundaries

The first and most important thing in organizing the writing process is setting the boundaries. Good set of do's and don'ts will limit your scope and probably will make it at least a little tangible and possibly even plausible. Don't think about boundaries in a negative way - it is more of shaping what you can and can't do, what you want and don't want to do. It is the starting point. Because of that you will be able to see mirage of the goal you really want to achieve. Just remember to keep your set of boundaries in mind every time you feel a bit lost.

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Find immersive but not overwhelming subject

There is no choice of the subject usually. It all happens by accident. You get hooked and then you dive deep into the rabbit hole until you exhaust it and leave it as a set of nasty fancy caves for spectators to awe and look in. Sometimes the whole process of getting hooked is dragged out to a considerable period of time but it is not like you force yourself to be interested in something. Unless you're interested in finding something really exciting. Something you can immerse yourself in no matter of personal taste of beliefs. But not so much - it doesn't have to be "end all, be all", "the most important thing in the world" kind of subject.

There is also a trick - consider your subject to be a little trifle, an elaborate jest. That easy-going attitude will help you to prevent overwhelming from happening.

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Know your limitations and go beyond

Before starting a session - take a moment to think about yourself as a writer. What are your stronger feats? What is lacking? What things you can't do well enough? What are your failings? What bugs you? Make a list of all these things. And then, one-by-one, tackle it by abusing it to the point of it losing any trace of sense. Knowing yourself is a good thing. It helps sometimes. But it also something that makes you to avoid certain things - because you know you're not fit for it. But what if you try just because? It is not like a Chornobyl disaster will happen after you fail. Why not?

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Appreciate things around you

Face it - you don't live in the bubble. There are so many things going on around you, so many distraction, sometimes sweet, sometimes irritating - you can't get away from it. One way or another you always bump into a cactus. And then everything stalls and you take time to regroup. And then it happens again. And again. And again and again. Marc Almond starts to sing in your head "Again and again and again" and you notice that that cactus you've bumped in recently got an awesome riff - one way or another.

Consider everything around you to be a potential source of idea. Get the thick of it.

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Forget about "shoulds"

One of the most annoying things that occurs while taking on a big project is the list of things you "should" do. Unlike casual "to-do" lists which help you to operate on a micro level, "should-list" is an overwhelming burden that keeps you down more and more you think about it. Unless it is a commissioned job - all the "shoulds" are optional. It's up to you to decide in which direction to move at any point in time. You should trust your instincts, your gut - not the big vague umbrella goal "it has to be the greatest something-something" doing vogue in your head.

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Avoid Feature Creep

Feature Creep is the process adding more and more new things to the project without working on what you already have. The result is half-baked product. You may read something and like it and think "I like it so much I want to do something like that". If you happen to think about it - stop right there and think about Duke Nukem Forever. It was a nice and easy idea in the beginning - hero's second outing against alien threat, he got soft after the first time and relaxed, he gets to the low point and works his way up. And then feature creep happened with its "what if we add awesome snow level", "what if we add miniature racing sequence", "what if we add big bridge shootout", "what if we add football with giant eyeballs against flying buttocks in flatulence expelling deadly brown goo" ... you get the point. It ended badly. Don't even try.

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Read in the end of session

There is no better finish for the writing session than reading through all the things you've written over its course. It is a nice opportunity to reconsider your progress - see what works and what is not and what things you definitely need to fix.

You can also read out loud the finished fragments. It will defamiliarize the text for you and you will be able to look at it at different perspective. Which can open up new opportunities and show new ways of developing the thing. Which is always a good thing.

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Taman Shud means "finished" in Persian. Drop it somewhere.