 |
| It's coming right for us! |
Before we get into it this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! To be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!
Lastly, make sure you check out my Vocal archive for several hundred other articles about geek ephemera, weird history, writing, and more!
The Stress Responses of Writers
As human beings, when we're faced with dangerous situations, the millennia-old software that runs our skull jelly kicks in and activates our instincts to preserve ourselves. The problem is that, while these reactions were originally created to help us deal with snakes and tigers, we can often regard our own manuscripts as dangerous threats in the here and now. As a result, trying to sit down and work might lead us to experience several different stress reactions. The ones I've come across include:
#1: Fight
This is, quite honestly, my most common reaction to most stress situations, work included. If I have a project that's stressing me out (deadline is fast approaching, I don't like the way that it's shaping up, or I feel it's not quite in-hand) then the most likely course of action is that I'll brew myself a cup of coffee, boot up the program, and hammer on it until I am satisfied with my progress. Or until it's done.
Honestly, this recent video of mine over on the Azukail Games YouTube channel (which you should check out if you haven't) is probably one of the best examples of this tendency. I ran into a slew of technical issues with it, and it just frustrated me. I could have allotted some time to fix one thing at a time, taking care of it over a week or so, but when it didn't do what I wanted I decided that I wasn't going to bed until it was done. I was up till 3 in the morning, but I slept the sleep of the exhausted and the righteous, my enemy defeated. The story is from my TTRPG supplement Guilds of Sundara, and if it sounds like something you'd enjoy, grab a copy for either Pathfinder or Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition.
Fight definitely has advantages, namely that if you're the sort of person who tends to come out swinging, it can be very invigorating to feel like you're doing something, and taking on a problem. However, it can consume your attention, taking time away from other projects and responsibilities, leaving you spent and exhausted when you may have had other things that also required your time and attention. Pick your battles if this is a response you have to your writing, and learn to make it work for you.
#2: Flight
There are a lot of folks for whom the best part of writing is all the foreplay. There's the sudden spark of the idea, the world building, the character crafting, putting together story arcs, motivations, weird science, and magic systems. But when it comes time to sit down and write, now the fun part is over; now it's time to actually work.
Escapism is the main thing that a lot of writers do when we get stressed, and if working on one story is not giving us the dopamine anymore, our brains will often try to recapture that rush by doing the same thing with another story instead. This is why a lot of writers will be super enthusiastic about an idea, potentially for years, only to suddenly drop it and move on to something else when they hit a rough patch during the actual writing process that stops them from getting the same fulfillment that it was bringing in the earlier stages.
If this is the way your brain reacts, don't fret. Sometimes it's good to let yourself have a little extra worldbuilding or book plotting as a treat, and this is doubly true if you are the kind of writer that finds fulfillment in these activities. However, it's important to remember not to let yourself get so wrapped up in this other project that you abandon the one you were previously working on. Or, put another way, you should have an occasional cookie, but don't eat the whole pack of them instead of cooking dinner.
Lastly, while this behavior can be disastrous if you intend to be a professional writer, don't beat yourself up if you're just doing this for fun. If you're the only person you're accountable to, then try to keep a little perspective, and be kind to yourself.
#3: Freeze
This is one of the most difficult responses I've seen creators of all types deal with when it comes to stress from their work. It usually happens because they've talked a big game about a project, or they've finally given themselves a deadline, and now this story has become real in a way it wasn't before. There are actual stakes now, and there's a cost that comes if you don't actually finish it. Either you lose out on a check, you disappoint your audience, or you're going to take a hit to your reputation if you don't deliver.
And that can make a lot of us freeze.
This is honestly a problem I had when writing both Blackest Knights and The Final Lamentation this past year. Originally, both of these stories were proposed to the audience for the YouTube channel A Vox in The Void (whom you should go listen to, as several of my stories have been featured there over the past few years), and the audience chose what they wanted to see next. And knowing there was not just a handful of folks, but literally hundreds of people who had weighed in on what stories they wanted to see next, and who were now waiting for me to deliver? I've written 4 novels, 2 short story collections, run 2 blogs for a decade each, and I've been writing professionally for basically my entire adult life... and I'm not going to lie, that put some pressure on me.
I'm very fortunate that the freeze didn't last long (largely because it frustrated me, and that activated my fight response), but the idea of an audience that was actually expecting my work did give me a few days where putting words on the page felt like I was fighting against a higher gravity than normal. In the end I'm glad I pushed through it, but I can also acknowledge that it was at least partially because of all the experience I have as a writer, and that I've got a lot of tips and tricks in my toolbox to help me get past paralysis.
As with the other reactions, take a deep breath. Focus. Be kind to yourself. To use my favorite analogy, if you were lifting a heavy weight, and you felt your grip slip, or your balance go wrong, you should put down the weight for a bit. Dust off your hands, take a drink of water, and come back to it with a stronger, surer grip. Or if you feel something in your muscles twinge in a way it shouldn't, don't be afraid to put it down, and take the rest of the day. It's better to let yourself rest, and recuperate, so you can come back to a project soon, than to strain yourself the wrong way and need far more recovery time than you anticipated.
Support The Literary Mercenary
For folks who just want to do their part to help keep me making more content, please subscribe/follow me in these locations:
- The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)
- My Rumble Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)
And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!
Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!
That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!
And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list.
If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!
No comments:
Post a Comment