Reach 'The End'

 

A common problem for creatives can be finishing a project. This can be particularly so if you are struggling and finding it difficult to be creatively motivated or breach an obstacle. Fear of failure, over-editing as you write and writers’ block are a few examples of issues writers can face.

Sometimes it can be beneficial to put a project down and leave it to gestate a while. However, if you find you do this more often than not, and never seem to finish anything you start, it could be time to reassess your approach. Here are a couple of ideas.

Don’t rush yourself. Have patience and trust that you can take as long as you need to complete your work, to ensure it’s as good as it can be and also that you don’t become stressed about trying to reach those infamous words: “the end”.

Familiarise yourself with your productive ‘sweet spot’ – how long you can be successfully creative for in one session. Whether it is 10 minutes or 2 hours, know it and arrange the relevant lengths of time into your daily schedule (in and around your other commitments). This way, if you know you are a 5-minute writer, you can allot 5 minutes and be happy when you finish the time slot, rather than disappointed because you scheduled a one-hour slot and only did 5 minutes!

Finally, have a serious talk with the perfectionist within you. When it comes to redrafting and editing your work, do not allow yourself to go through too many permutations. Agree with yourself at what draft you will send it off for editing and reserve a final draft stage when the editor's results come back to you for finalising the piece. Hopefully you will reach 'The End'!

Submissions, Self-Doubt and Spitfires!

Kill clichés. I read that somewhere last week. I often read it, somewhere. If, like me, you do not enjoy editing and find it the hardest part of being a writer, I wager you have an insatiable yearning for as much help as you can find on the subject. This is how I came across (many times) the words ‘kill clichés’. Bizarrely, as I sat down to begin this blog piece, a cliché is precisely the first thing that popped into my head. I opened a blank document and there it was, wagging its little tail excitedly and bouncing on the spot. Well, I thought, I’m not writing my novel now, I’m writing a blog piece and it is a sweet little thing. So I’m using it.

As the sun sets on 2013...

            During the longer winter nights, curling up on the sofa under blankets, it’s easy to lapse into quiet contemplation. Nearing the winter solstice, I thought about where my life had led me over the last twelve months, in particular my writing life. Waiting for the slow lengthening of days seems akin to watching an egg-timer; with each grain of sand that falls from top to bottom, a moment has passed. I thought about all the moments I could remember from the year and decided to share some of them.

Mentoring: Honing my inner Hawk

            For the last three months I have been under the gentle wing of a mentor. As a hawk on the hunt, I have been learning to focus. My initial instincts were to flee in fear of my first meeting, to hide under the table in the coffee shop and pretend I wasn’t there. Having had my work scrutinised by a knowledgeable editor and finding myself waist-high in a rewrite of grand proportions, I was uncertain how helpful the mentoring would be. I was following the editor’s instructions and juggling with new ideas bred from that process. I found my bravery and embraced the experience.