Part of being a competent writer is knowing when something isn't working. While Writer's Block can play a part in things, there may come a time when a particular project hits a brick wall and you, in turn, need to take a break from it. It's not easy, and may be one of the most painful experiences of your life. But if nothing is happening and not because of Writer's Block, it may be time to put the project on the shelf for a little while. And I'm not talking "20 years" kind of "a little while."
Three to six months on the shelf can help you gather perspective on a project. You needn't ponder it every waking moment, or even think about it on a daily basis. Just keep it on the back burner, give it the occasional thought and come back to it when you feel ready to work on it (or when six months has passed, whichever comes first.) Putting something away for a little bit can give you a much-needed rest and prevent you from getting burnt out on something that has promise.
Let me reiterate: this process can and probably will be quite painful for projects you really care about. But as with so many things, you can prove your love for it by letting it go for a little while.
2 comments:
Last time I left a project, and attempted to restart it months later, I wasn't happy with what I came back to and scrapped it.
Any way to avoid this? Or is this just a possible outcome? Or (third option) was I just too lazy to put the work in to really FIX it?
It's always a gamble, shelving a project. Sometimes you get a new perspective on it, and are able to restart it as surely as if you had just taken a day off. Other times, the steam is gone, never to return. The best you can hope for then is to recycle some of the ideas your project contained for future use. I've done that a lot.
While it may sometimes be a case of being too lazy to fix something, I also believe that there are some things in this world just can't be fixed at a particular time and place.
Any creative venture is a gamble. Sometimes they turn out like we want, sometimes they don't. Sometimes putting something down for a while is ok, sometimes it isn't. Personally: I don't think it's wholly up to us whether anything ever sees the light of day or not.
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