When trouble finding the words

When trouble finding the words -

Photo credit: Flickr mdave

first I was writing again, now for the second time this year (and, come to think, second time in a few months), which is both exciting because after perma-review mode for so long, it's nice to be in the project-all-the-things in fashion, but also scary (because writing), and a little tiring (because i want to write something else this year too). Overall, it was really fun to dive into the new project of a project I wanted to work on really long, but I have also noticed the words, as of late, have not come so easily.

* sigh *

Once upon a time, I used to be able to write 1000 words in 30 minutes, with writing or Die and music (30 minute break). With my last WIP, I average around 700 words in 25 minutes with a break of 5 minutes, so about 1400 words in an hour, assuming both sprints found themselves in the middle range. This time I was on average lower, sometimes in the range 500 sprint 25 minutes on a good day, or closer to 300ish words per 25 minutes sprint on a not so good day.

Of course, even on not so good days, the number of words is not terrible , but it does feel significantly slower and more difficult for me.

The most difficult writing To- day, week, manuscripts even happen to everyone regardless of experience level. And while I'm pretty sure I know why the fight is happening more often than usual with this particular manuscript, the fight is still ... well. It is a struggle.

The good and bad news with this is when there is not really a spa * for a rainy day to write (or manuscripts), it is not the death penalty, whatsoever. Assuming you stick with it and force you to keep writing, even if the words are less-than-friendly, the words will be come. But it also means that you may need to be patient with yourself, or give you more manageable goals. I moved my goal for this first project a few days to reduce the daily number of words that I had to meet my self-imposed deadline, for example, that helped. I also forced myself to take these breaks of five minutes between sprints writing because they make it easier to plunge then the next block of 25 minutes.

The long and short of it is that happens to everyone and while there is not an insta-fix guaranteed, the best you can do is to keep with it and know does not happen because you're script is bad, or you're terrible, or your writing skills are terrible, etc. If anything, it simply means welcome to the club-writing is difficult, and we've all been there.

What do you do when trouble getting the words down?

Twitter bite size:

Author @Ava_Jae shares his experience difficulty finding words in the first draft. (Click for tweeter)