I've been under a lot of pressure these last few days and I'm going for some unexpected relief in a few minutes.
I've been setting compromises for myself in order to be able to do more. Without planning, without organising, I tend to procrastinate and nothing goes forwards the way I want it to, but by doing it, I've been creating some unexpected pressures that I don't know how to solve.
I started a new series, for example, but now that I have to do the second chapter, I feel as if it were some sort of imposed obligation with quality standards and my brain just blocks it out and enters procrastination mode. How should I solve this? I don't know.
Some would say "little steps", and I tried to, but then when I tried to give the second step I was lost because I didn't know what the first step was. I read the first part, I realised that I had already lost motivation to do the second part, waited, got motivated, redid the first part because I really did not understand it, and well, perfectionism + procrastination + rebellion against my own desires = nothing gets done.
But well, regardless of the circumstances, I'm going to celebrate my big brother's birthday today! It's not a party. We're just going to hang out, buy him a present and go around the city and do something, I guess, maybe walk in a mall and become part of the furniture. But I'm sure it will be more enjoyable than pressing myself into a little ball of duties on my desk. :)
In the meanwhile, I ask you guys!
What should I do? How would you recommend that I handle this problem?
I know that there should be some masters of productivity out there. :)
Writing fiction on a blog is a very strange animal. If it were a novel you had started and you were NOT blogging it then I would say never stop until it's done. Rework it, rethink it, work on it like a job 8 hours a day til it's done or until you decide to scrap it and go on to something else.
However, this is blog fiction - an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT ANIMAL.
First of all, long form fiction, especially serialized fiction gets nowhere near the attention and interest as poetry (for example). Trust me I know. Poetry is much easier for readers because it takes less time to read. People on a platform like this like to browse. Most are not fiction readers and even the ones who are already have their preferred sources and authors and aren't likely to be on Steemit looking for more. You are far more likely to hook a reader with a poem, a blog about government corruption, or a summary of say a brother's birthday party.
I'm not here to discourage fiction-writing. Quite the opposite. But you have to give yourself some slack. Good fiction writing is a process and many times it results in dead ends for exactly the reason you are running into. Doing it on a blog with the expectation of finishing everything you start is unrealistic. All the fiction I have posted so far was finished ahead of time.
If you have run dry on a fiction project, sometimes you just have to walk away from it. Start something else, especially if you have something that is gnawing at you to write. Don't feel like it's a commitment or a responsibility. It isn't reasonable. I'm a novelist. Trust me on this. I can't code my way out of a shoebox but this is something I know about.
Turn your creativity on something else because you have a lot of it. Do a dream poem or a movie review or whatever moves your soul because that is where you will get a great result.
Sometimes when I'm frustrated like this, what I do is find a really interesting writing prompt to clear my head and do a manual reset. You can find them on contests and poetry blogs of course, but my favorite thing to do is find a piece of poetry that really grabs me, and I try to do the exact same thing as the piece. That might seem like a bad idea, because you would think it will lead to a "copy-cat" poem or short story, but in my case that never happens. It takes me in some different direction when I start writing.
And now I'll let you in on one of my super-secret writing weapons. There is a brilliant man who has an online vlog about poetry and life. He is an amazing career poet and a professor of literature. He has a series called "30 Days Until Done" in which he gives a series of writing prompts with a different theme every month. 1 prompt per day until the end of the month.
Here is an example if you want to check him out: http://www.thewalkingmeditation.com/2018/03/march-20.html
This particular series is his "Walking Meditation" series but whatever he's currently doing normally includes some kind of interesting prompts and you can page forward or backward and find a prompt that is particularly interesting to you because he always has some really good ones.
His name is John Brantingham (my brother), and his talks and writing prompts have led to some of my best writing.
I hope some of this will help you. I know you are under a lot of stress and that makes writing very difficult. But if there is anybody who can help you it's my brother John. He knows about everything there is to know about writing and how to improve it. It's all there somewhere in his vlogs if you search, or you can post questions to him too.
Another thing that helps is a spinach salad with sesame seeds, walnut halves, feta cheese, dried cranberries, chopped mini-carrots, and a bit of balsamic vinegar. Just sayin.
Thank you :) You gave me a lot to think about and I've been considering my options. I've decided to change the direction of my blog for good and I hope that I'll feel freer in the future. I'll also keep writing, but I'll do it differently. I've already tested a couple systems and I think that if I share more fiction, the making process will be different than before. The result may be the same, but I'll try to feel more satisfied with what I do.
Today celebrates life, when going out to accompany your brother to have fun for a while, because of his birthday. In those moments do not think about anything just that, the birthday boy, deserves all the attention.
Manana, set a schedule, without pressing, some do not work under tension. Safe with serenity and tranquility, ideas will begin to flow.
I wish you luck.
I did :) We enjoyed the going-out a lot. I also used this whole week to think and do stuff I love, and now I'm back to Steemit with a new mindset and very refreshed. <3
Happy birthday
This post has received a 22.21 % upvote from @boomerang.
Primero, espero que el traductor este haciendo un buen trabajo, segundo Feliz cumpleaños a tu hermano, tercero diviertete! la presion que estas teniendo seguramente sera liberada siempre que tu misma la liberes, hoy es una buena oportunidad para oxigenar las ideas, de seguro esa salida al centro comercial, cambiara algunas cosas, estos bloqueos suelen pasar, es parte de uno miso que se traza metas que parecen dificiles pero con empeño de seguro las superas, entonces el plan para hoy debe ser liberar! comer un gran trozo de pastel, dar gracias por la vida de tu hermano y sonreir todo lo que se pueda, que pasen una linda tarde
:P Comí un trocito pequeñiiito de tres leches. ¡Pero comimos hamburguesa! Fue muy bonito.
<3
Y sip, usé ese día y toda la semana para oxigenarme y refrescarme. Ahora creo que ya estoy lista para seguir. Pensé bastante y voy a cambiar un poco el estilo de mi blog. Así no tendré tantos bloqueos y estaré mucho más satisfecha.
creo que lo mejor es sentirse cómodo y escribir de lo que te gusta, aun así los bloqueos pueden venir, pero siempre hay un día tras otro! estoy detrás de una gran hamburguesa, pero de solo ver el precio.. se me pasa jejeje (ya estoy como la rana de los memes), espero ver un poco de tu blog esta semana, saludos
This is a lesser problem but I feel kinda similar about writing about travel. I mean I know exactly what to write about but sometimes I am about to do it and then just don't feel like doing it haha....
But then when the timing is right it just flows right out. Strange child, the mind.
Whoop!
I also have a few plans that I want to write about. When I was studying, I learned how to make outlines before writing essays and homework. I enjoyed it a lot more than just writing sometimes because it's like filling blanks. However, even though I made a lot of plans, I don't have any motivation to actually write the full essays for those plans.
It's not time lost. I got to think about the topics. But I don't think I'll be finishing a lot of stuff that I started. It's sad, but it's for my sanity that I'm doing this. :)
But yeah, I'm sure that sometime if I try again, it may just flow and I may just write what I wanted to write in the first place.
I first saw your article on 'what would you do if you had 1000 Steem' and wanted to comment there but since it's a little older than this, I thought I'd comment on your newer post instead akaka. I wanted to say that to be able to build from the default 15sp to what you have now, is really a huge accomplishment! I'm inspired to build up mine as well.
I also got attracted to the cover photo you used here, so I checked out your steemit ahaha, yay pusheen!
As for your current issue, i'm not so sure what to say to help. Because I'm a super procrastinator myself. catch ya later~hey @cryptosharon! Happened to find your article while randomly scrolling around Steemit/Busy.
Hahahaha, yeah! It's hard not to procrastinate while on Steemit. So much freedom of action, no one pushing you to fill your own quotas. It's hard, but it's satisfactory. And I've gotten results from my dedication, so I know that if I keep working hard, I'll keep getting results.
It's just hard to keep doing the same thing over and over for so many months. I've gotten annoyed with trying to wear the same clothes (figuratively) every day to Steemit. I love change, and in real life, I'm always looking for sudden changes, original styles, new stuff to do. Not doing the same on Steemit was heavily pressing on me!
Yay Pusheen! And thanks for coming by and for your compliments. :) I'm really happy that you liked my style. <3
I feel you Sharon. I do this at times and even disappear out of this world. At times, there should be something, a strong drive to keep you going, maybe reward yourself after doing a good job and those sorts.
Anyway Happy Birthday Brother!
<3 Henlo. I disappeared for a whole week! I'm back, though, kinda. I'll be very isolative now, much more introverted, but I'll stop being a little ghost.
I like whichever you are Sharon! aja! :)
Haha walk in the mall and become part of the furniture Hope you had fun!! Now I miss my brother. I only have one sibling...I wish I had more!
Did you get over your block yet?
Hahahaha, I had to reread. I don't know what I meant with that, if I even meant something other than just writing random funny things like I often do. I also only have one sibling, which is my big brother. Love him so much.
And yeah, kinda, I partially got over my block by writing about other stuff. I'll be posting a bit more, I think, but not on what I wanted to write about. In fact, I may not finish a lot of stuff that I started, but I think that it's a worthy sacrifice for my own well-being!
<3
I hope that I can keep posting now that I rewrote my strategies. I had to change some of my initial plans, but after having some experience on the site and producing content every day, I think that I am more clear-headed and can make better choices than when I started.