What do you do when the rowing gets weary?

[bcomet]

Maybe it's just this time of cold and low light and I am missing things like tomatoes growing before my eyes and sunlight on the top of my head.
I have seven novels in one form or another of completion.
I think I have something going on. It's not that.
It's just the rowing of writing gets weary. All this fighting the current.
Sometimes I just want to throw the oars on the bottom of the boat, lay back and look at the clouds and let the boat drift down current.
I don't know whether the "fight" for publication, for an agent, for surfacing somewhere "upstream"... is worth it.
What do you do when the rowing gets weary?
How do you come to terms with the writing life, the part beyond the story?

[sierramcconnell]

I'm not going to sugar coat it, because it's very hard when you're surrounded by water and you can't see the land on any side.

But what else are you going to do when you're in a boat, with the sun over head, and a bunch of fish below you? It's not like you have anything better to do in a boat but row it. No one else is going to row the boat for you, and you can't throw the oars into the water. Something just might toss them back at you and smack you in the face. (Fish are wily like that.)

So when it gets really hard, just keep rowing. Even if it's piddly rowing. Bored rowing. A little splash here and there.

Take a break. But don't toss the oars.

Just row a little at a time, when you have the strength to do it.

It also helps, if there's another boat you can tie to, to help you row along. :)

[Sommer Leigh]

How long can I keep this up?

I asked myself that a lot over Christmas. Like you, I'm not sure if it was the weather or the holiday stress, but every time I looked at my manuscript I kept thinking, how long can I keep this up? I felt so dog tired. Finally, just after Christmas weekend when I should have had lots of free time and days off to write, I did absolutely nothing. So I shut off my writing program and said "Enough. Enough for now." My husband didn't understand, my beta readers didn't understand. Heck, sometimes I didn't understand. But as soon as I turned everything off and put it out of mind I felt so much better. And as soon as I took the pressure off I started getting all these new story ideas. So I took a couple of weeks to write them all down and flesh them out and think about them. Then, about a week and a half ago, I felt a familiar ache for my manuscript that I honestly hadn't felt since October at least. I turned everything back on. I looked closely at the outline, made some adjustments, and rewrote a few scenes that had plagued me before I took a break. And it was great. I feel a little bit like someone who is out of shape trying to work up to running a mile again, but I don't feel like I'm being beaten to death by my manuscript anymore.

I hope you're able to set your oars down and take a breather, enjoy your surroundings, read a good book. I hope that after you give yourself some rest you're able to respark your excitement towards your WIP. Sometimes our minds, as well as our bodies, need a really good nap and some sun to remind itself what it is capable of.

[polymath]

When the doubt demons arise, I reflect upon why I write. It's to meaningfully express what I want to share with readers. All the money in the world won't make me happy, nor will fame and glory. What I really want is a caring, sensitive, approving audience with which to find common ground. Everything else is meaningless.

[bcomet]

I appreciate the thoughts expressed.

The stories, the poetry, the art does not diminish for me. But sometimes the trying to get a foothold in the business of it feels exhausting and depleting. That is the part that I question. A poet knows there will not be gold. But a storyteller may make their three wishes.

Like Sommer, I think there are times to just drift on art and let the business quests spin away. And, good advice, to at least occasionally keep an oar stirring things in that water too.

Maybe I should go back and reread what Nathan wrote about The Crazies.

I know we all go through it. I find it helpful to learn how others manage this.

[Robin]

I think we all go through "the crazies". Just know that you have support and help, right here.

The amazing people in this forum always make me smile on those crazy day and give me a boost of confidence when I need it most.

So, have your pity party (I'll send cupcakes), take a break, do something else... But when you're ready pick up those oars and row, because we have the lighthouse on just for you.

((((((((((( BIG HUG)))))))))))))

[polymath]

The stories, the poetry, the art does not diminish for me. But sometimes the trying to get a foothold in the business of it feels exhausting and depleting. That is the part that I question. A poet knows there will not be gold. But a storyteller may make their three wishes.

The business is a platform from which poets are lauded for their art. The audience's shower of trinkets and coins is a tangible comment on how popularly appealing and artful a poet's creation is. Time and critical trials will tell if poets meet or exceed their public peers' review.

For me, the reality of the creative writing business is one of frank, blunt self-assessment and facing and accommodating to the harsh truth there's no easy path, no accidental success, no chance odds of winning the game on sheer luck, no certainty of success, that the business is a fickle and daunting master. No alternative but to try, try, try again, and knowing that I'm the only one who can make or break a tale. It all stands or falls on a story's merits.

I know I'm not there yet, but know what to do, at least. I can answer why any given tale rises above the fray, but I'm not there yet with my writing. That's what keeps me on task, that I can and will get there, that I know what it takes, but know I'm shy of my own mark, let alone the seemingly arbitrary yet pragmatic mark set by the marketplace.

[Sommer Leigh]

I think we all go through "the crazies". Just know that you have support and help, right here.

The amazing people in this forum always make me smile on those crazy day and give me a boost of confidence when I need it most.

This. This. This.

When I start coming down with the crazies, this is the first place I come for a vaccine.

[bcomet]

I think we all go through "the crazies". Just know that you have support and help, right here.

The amazing people in this forum always make me smile on those crazy day and give me a boost of confidence when I need it most.
...But when you're ready pick up those oars and row, because we have the lighthouse on just for you.

((((((((((( BIG HUG)))))))))))))

This. This. This.

When I start coming down with the crazies, this is the first place I come for a vaccine.

Oh you guys! You make me smile! Thanks! And, you too, Polymath, with your words of wisdom.

[ddegreeff]

You need to concentrate on narrowing your view. How do you possibly have SEVEN DIFFERENT PROJECTS in the works right now? Do you start one, roll on it while it's easy, and then switch to the next spark in your eye as soon as "the rowing gets tough?" Maybe you don't, but if you do, that isn't what successful writing is about. Successful writing is about grinding at a keyboard until you can't bear the sight of what you're working on, but chugging on ahead with the knowledge that the completion will be that much sweeter when you get there. If you don't ever really finish anything -- and by 'finish' I mean blast through numerous arduous, work-heavy drafts -- how will you ever get to the point where you get to bathe in the accomplishment you've fought so hard for? People don't run marathons because it's super fun to drag their feet for 26.2, they do it because the challenge is impressive, and they know the payoff of achieving their goals will be worth every step. Give yourself something to celebrate. Take your top project, finish the first draft, then do the same for the second-best project, then go back to the first and grind it until it's done. Work it until you have something to be proud of, something that makes you glad you put in all of those hours, buy yourself a nice bottle of bourbon to celebrate, and THEN start worrying about getting an agent. Concentrating on too many things at once will do nothing but burn you out and bring you worry.

[bcomet]

ddegreeff,
slow down slugger
:-D
I have completed most of those projects one at a time and started on new ones after completion, while trolling for the business.

(However, the vision of juggling seven at once, if that's the impression I gave, makes me want a bottle of bourbon, for sure! Whew!)
(I'll keep the bourbon suggestion in mind though, as there is always more editing to consider on every project!)


But, back to my concern:
It's not the writing or the creating part that gets me weary, it's the trolling the business reefs, that's the part I question.

[polymath]

I've trolled the reefs, the breakwaters, the harbors of refuge, and the seaward channels right on out into open waters. I've interviewed editors of all stripes, literary agents, publishers, etc., read as many author's bios that detail their poet's journeys as I could lay hands on. In each case, besides a compelling narrative, they had an advocate base, sometimes one person who others listened to, sometimes a broad fan base, sometimes a rising celebrityhood in another life endeavor.

Lately, one or two authors have made it into the big time solely on the merits of their novels, but I suspect there's secret advocates hidden in the wings for each.

In ye olden days, artists relied on benefactors to support their work, not only sponsor the work, but also see to it that the work was brought forth to the world. I don't think the system has changed much, just there are different names for the benefactor-advocates and the fashions of the hats they wear and the value of the pound of flesh they exact.

[bcomet]

I've trolled the reefs, the breakwaters, the harbors of refuge, and the seaward channels right on out into open waters.

... I suspect there's secret advocates hidden in the wings for each.

In ye olden days, artists relied on benefactors to support their work, not only sponsor the work, but also see to it that the work was brought forth to the world. I don't think the system has changed much, just there are different names for the benefactor-advocates and the fashions of the hats they wear and the value of the pound of flesh they exact.

Ah, the hidden fish-reef. Now, about that treasure map, Polymath, ye old seadog, you!

[Emily J]

I am just returning to writing after taking a few months off. Life conspired against me in the form of illness and an added work load that just made finding time and energy to write impossible for awhile. Now I am getting back into writing and let me tell you, absence makes the heart grow fonder!

I have always had the philosophy that writing is something I do for pleasure. I don't want it to be like pulling teeth. There are times when I need to take a break and that's fine. Because I know it is my true passion and that I will always go back and pick up that pen again (pen figuratively of course, my days of writing by hand are long gone).

And yes, the struggle for representation/publication can be wearying. But I consider writing to be an end in itself. I do want to be published one day so I can share my stories but nowadays with the internet everyone has a voice, a platform and there are more options for self-publishing. Basically I write because I love it, and if I could get published and make some money doing what I love that would be great. If not, I will still write, because I still love it and will find another way to put my work out there.

Taking breaks is fine, I think even necessary at least for my own sanity. But don't give up. If you enjoy writing you should keep at it and try not to let the worry about publishing get you down.

[polymath]

Ah, the hidden fish-reef. Now, about that treasure map, Polymath, ye old seadog, you!

Aye, it's the treasure map ye be a wanting then. I know whereof a treasure or two once has been, long since retrieved, a treasure or two undiscovered lacking maps for the wanting.

Argh, on your head then. Heave to and thrice up on mine larboard quarter aft. There's a deadeye dog, dumbcleat, and companionway ladder there for lashing thine bark unto.

Welcome aboard; accompany me in the wardroom over a pail of grog and lime to wash down some ship's biscuit lined with bacon rashers. We'll have a merry good parley time sussing out the motions of the heavens, the riddles of the Ancient Mariner, for therein, I'm so assured by Providence, are given clues to the hiding places of the charts we require.

"The stars were dim, and thick the night,
The steersman's face by his lamp gleamed white;
From the sails the dew did drip—
Till clombe above the eastern bar
The horned Moon, with one bright star
Within the nether tip."

It's the high priestess moon, a crescent phase occulting the evening star Venus.

From The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/151/151-h/151-h.htm