Writing Wisdom - Lesson #2: The Perils of Partners

As all writers are painfully aware, the writing process can be excruciatingly slow, and oftentimes, finding the motivation to actually make progress can become a problem. In some cases then, working with a partner can be a smart move.

In this scenario, writing together can potentially make the entire process so much smoother. When two people collaborate on a project, you're usually less likely to get stuck, as your partner is always there to re-focus you and offer his or her own ideas. You can also divide up the work, assigning certain sections or aspects of your story to each of you in order to expedite your project's progress.

However, despite the undeniable benefits of writing in pairs, I have found a number of problems which can only hinder the creative process and lead to frustration or even disrupt a meaningful friendship.

Now, I'm not even going to pretend to be some kind of expert on this or anything, but let's just say I've had difficulties finding a reliable writing partner. A couple years back, a friend and I were working on a screenplay. We had developed the story, devised an outline, and were about thirty pages in when time began to run out. You see, my friend is now in his second year of med school, and while I totally understand that he did what he had to do and I have zero resentment towards him, part of me is still disappointed that we did all that work and never got anywhere with it. I keep doing my own writing anyway, but I still hope one day we can get back to that script.

As if this one experience with writing partners is not enough, another friend and I have been wanting to get a novel together for the past several months, but once again, life keeps getting in the way. Frustration ensues as the months roll by. Thus far, we've completed a prologue and the very first chapter. That's it. Now he is now planning on trying to get into law school. So the destiny or lack thereof for this project is becoming all too apparent. Again, it's not like I haven't been through this before, but that just makes it suck that much more.

If there's anything I hope to convey with this post, I guess it's this: Having a writing partner can be an awesome experience (so I'm told) and can oftentimes speed up the writing process, but it's important to make sure that your partner is in it for the long haul. You might be all gung-ho for your story, but be careful or you might end up with a lifetime supply of half-written projects that will only take away from your solo efforts.

I'd still love to team up with a writer for a project, but I now know to be more choosy who I work with. I just want to get something finished and out there already! If any of you are willing to collaborate on something this summer, let me know, as I will have much more free time during my hiatus from classes!

ttyl everyone and happy writing,
Robert

Writing Wisdom - Lesson #1: The Writer's Arch-Nemesis

In my experience, the hardest part of being a writer is getting into the mindset to actually accomplish something. The world is full of distractions, some more important than others, but while family, friends, work, and school are legitimate excuses for postponing work on your latest writing project, there are a number of other, less than constructive ways in which to spend the spare time you should be using to get some writing done. And in today's day and age, where seemingly everything we do is tied to technology, one in particular manages to monopolize our attention. Yes, folks, I'm talking about the worldwide web a.k.a. the Internet a.k.a. the arch-nemesis of writers everywhere.

Although the Internet is an invaluable resource, considering it is virtually a limitless jumble of information, I have found it to be the most troublesome distraction when I'm trying to work on a project. While the television, radio, and cell phones can easily be turned off and set aside, the Internet is omnipresent. Unless you write by hand or are one of the select few to stubbornly cling to your twenty-year-old typewriter, chances are you spend several hours a day in front of a computer screen, like you are right now.

The fact of the matter is that there is no way to escape the Internet. After all, when you're writing, the web is only a double-click away. Even the slightest inclination to check your e-mail, browse a site, or IM someone can be rewarded in a matter of seconds. You tell yourself that you'll only go on for a second, but deep down, you know signing on to your ISP is a bad idea. However, nothing is more intimidating than a blank page waiting to be filled with your brilliant prose. So writers (myself included) often find themselves killing precious time meandering around the corners of our favorite website.

And in the last couple of years, this problem has gotten SO much worse. With the inception and massive popularization of social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, the general public is encouraged to spend even more time online customizing their profiling, contacting friends (or total strangers, for that matter), or researching whatever happened to their high school crush. YouTube is another huge offender, seducing us creative types away from our respective projects to revel in the ridiculous (but often very entertaining) videos that users have uploaded.

So, while there is no denying that the Internet has revolutionized the way we obtain and share information, it has also become a problem for writers, especially those stricken with "writer's block" (though I don't believe such a thing really exists...but that's a topic for another post. In fact, look for that as a future lesson). And because most of us rely on the computer to do all our writing, we must always struggle with the urge to surf the web rather than focus our energies on our writing. Since there's no way to completely avoid the Internet and therefore the temptation to wander from your work, the only option is to mentally train yourself to stay in the zone.

I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on this issue. How do you combat the constant distraction of the Internet when you're trying to get some writing done? Please let me know!

Thanks for reading...

-Rob