Dealing with Frustration
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- ALynnPowers
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Re: Dealing with Frustration
- Skillian
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hahahaa...This is awesome. I'm going to dance every time I'm frustrated now, for anything. It should be a federal requirement for all employees to start spontaneously dancing right at the moment the work becomes overwhelming and they feel they'll go crazy. Thanks for the laugh and great idea!Skillian wrote:This will sound silly, but dance breaks are the best. I put on something fun and jump around for a while. It relieves stress due to the whole exercise thing, but also there is something about doing anything that makes you feel goofy for a moment that just kind of breaks that inner ice. If I can laugh at myself usually my brain will stop the whole anxious freezing up wanting to die before typing more this is so monotonous why can't my computer just suck the idea out of my head and format it for me I wish I could afford to just talk to my computer and have it type it I wonder how much it would cost to hire someone to type for me maybe I could convince my niece to do it for low wages that is probably illegal child labor laws and all oh man I'm really procrastinating now...-ness.
- LivreAmour217
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- Hadiqa
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I actually agree, dancing, listening to music and playing sports help a lot!Skillian wrote:This will sound silly, but dance breaks are the best. I put on something fun and jump around for a while. It relieves stress due to the whole exercise thing, but also there is something about doing anything that makes you feel goofy for a moment that just kind of breaks that inner ice. If I can laugh at myself usually my brain will stop the whole anxious freezing up wanting to die before typing more this is so monotonous why can't my computer just suck the idea out of my head and format it for me I wish I could afford to just talk to my computer and have it type it I wonder how much it would cost to hire someone to type for me maybe I could convince my niece to do it for low wages that is probably illegal child labor laws and all oh man I'm really procrastinating now...-ness.
—Ernest Hemingway
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- ALynnPowers
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- moderntimes
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I'll surf the internet and visit sports or gun forums (two things that I enjoy) or maybe a movie forum, or look for some silly youtube posting. That sort of thing.
Or I'll pick up a book and read a while, maybe pop a movie into the DVR and watch it.
I agree, anything to take a break is good.
However, another hint -- if you're stuck on a particular portion of your new book or article or whatever, go to another spot in the document, something that you've already written, and read that and try to find a small tweak or edit that will make it better. This may give you the needed break and at the same time, keep your mind on the overall task at hand.
Sometimes, if I'm stuck for a while on, say "chapter 14" of my novel, I'll skip forward and start writing, oh, "chapter 22" where there's a big love scene or fight or whatever. I've found this is an excellent way to keep working on the book but provide the much needed break from where you're stuck.
- Gustavsson
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1. Take a break. Eat food or throw a dance party like Skillian. Then come back and give yourself an easier time.
2 (My usual go-to). Turn on the music and don't stop writing while the music's playing. If you stop writing, you have to pause the music. I use Spotify for this, so it's usually pretty easy for me. But it still makes me conscious of the fact that I have to keep going and the music also drowns out my inner editor. Also, whenever I hear a beat I always get more motivated, in writing or in other matters.
- moderntimes
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- moderntimes
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I found myself doing this last year as I was working to finish my 3rd mystery novel. I got off on a tangent that wasn't viable and it became more and more thick and unwieldy and eventually I realized I was creating dreck. So I cut out all those chapters (at least 10,000 words) and stuck them into a separate file ("for later") and re-read the book's beginning -- that much was good -- and restarted from the cutoff point, and then things just began to flow properly.
I then found myself writing what I consider my best novel thus far, with a "brilliant" (ha ha) couple of plot twists and revelations and the book really sings. Those deleted chapters sit idly now in a separate folder on the hard disk, and will likely never see daylight again.
But yeah... sometimes the frustration at what you've been trying to write is real, and it's due to the simple fact that you've been trying to write dreck. Happens to all of us. What makes it a learning experience is that we eventually realize the error and start anew in a different direction.
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- moderntimes
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And I SAVE everything. Even the bad stuff. There may be a fun turn of phrase or small fragment that will be useful later.