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Emotional Writing/ Structured Writing
I think a lot of new writers fall into this.
I hear a lot of people say things like, "How do you get in the mood to write." or "I wasn't feeling it today."
These are indicators of an emotional writer.
How do I know?
Because I am one myself.
It isn't a complete negative, but it does have many downsides.
An upside is most of your writing will be charged with the emotional state you find yourself in. This can make for some great scenes.
Like I said though, there are downsides. The biggest being that when you are having a bad time your writing often suffers.
Personally the last year and half has been one of the more emotionally hard times I have had in a while and my writing has suffered for it. So what is to be done?
Well, I am making the transition to being a structured writer. Instead of waiting for the muse to strike me I have set times on a semi-flexible schedule that I am supposed to be writing. I make myself turn on that computer and I write.
It is still a struggle, but it is working.
Most of the writers I admire and who have found success, model their work off of this type of writing.
I hope to follow in their footsteps.
Anyway that is what is going on in my writing world. What kind of writer are you? As always have fun and keep writing. I will leave you all with this inspirational video.
I'm sometimes an emotional writer and sometimes I can be structured. I do sit and write every weekday, though.
ReplyDeleteThat is good. consistency is key.
DeleteBrandon, even I am an emotional writer. But I have decided to become a structured writer this year.
ReplyDeleteWe have the same goal then.
DeleteI do so much better when I just set the time and make myself do it, but there are SCENES I have to catch my emotional muse for. I mark where they go and I tend to write them in the bathtub longhand... sometimes I need a walk, or they settle into focus in those minutes between sleep and wake. MOST of my writing though, is grindstone stuff. Stephen King says if you sit down every day and just make yourself write, then when the muse is in the mood, she will know where to find you.
ReplyDeleteThat is good advice. For sure some scenes take more out of you than others.
DeleteYeah, I would have to admit I'm an emotional writer, although I never saw this distinction before.
ReplyDeleteYeah took me a bit to see it myself.
DeleteI'm a structured writer. I just set time and I do it. If I wrote when I felt like it, I'd never write.
ReplyDeleteThat is the truth, lol.
DeleteI'm both, for sure. But I have learned to focus on structure. I use an app that counts my daily word count and I make sure I hit a word count every day. Like Alex, if I wrote when I felt like it, I'd never write...even though I love to write. Best to all
ReplyDeleteYeah we have to be in control.
DeleteI'm more structured. Although, I don't beat myself up if I can't write on a given day. Forcing myself to write just doesn't work.
ReplyDeleteYeah we have to give ourselves some breaks if we need them.
DeleteI try to be structured! I write for clients--I'm expected to output 2,000 words a day. So I can't really decide I don't feel like writing today. However, I do sometimes "not feel like" working on fiction!
ReplyDeleteThat helps, lol.
DeleteI've written when I was in a bad mood before. Most of us still have to go to work when we're not in the best of moods. So I try to approach my fiction writing as I would a job.
ReplyDeleteThat is a smart way to look at it.
DeleteSometimes the act of writing puts me in a better mood. I love delving into some character's problems and either resolving them, or making them worse, just for kicks, ya know.
ReplyDeleteIt can be therapeutic for sure.
DeleteYeah that has been my goal to just sit down once a day and write something. It tends to grow to more.
ReplyDeleteI'm an emotional writer. I try to keep to a schedule, but it's hard when I don't feel like writing. But I need to force myself to get in some words everyday. You can't become a successful author if you don't write haha
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right that most successful writers are the "structured" kind. They pretty much have to be with publishers' deadlines looming. Congrats on making the decision to try for a more structured approach. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI'm probably more of an emotional writer although I try hard to structure and plan and I think I am becoming more organised as far as that goes.
ReplyDeleteI think what really helped me was routine. I'm a creature of habit. So if I made a goal to sit down every day for a week at 8pm and write for one hour, gradually I got used to that and missed it when I didn't do it!
ReplyDeleteI'm both! I wish I could stick with structure, though, the times I've forced myself to follow that plan has been rewarding lol
ReplyDelete