My Greatest Writing Challenge and How I Manage It

I have always struggled with getting started - with everything in life, not just writing. My head is always full of ideas and plans that I want to try out and accomplish in a small amount of time, but instead of it being a facilitating factor, it is actually an annoying setback.

Numerous questions are always swarming around in my mind. Where do I start? Which storyline to choose? Do I go with my gut feeling or do I listen to the masses? The easiest thing would be to give in, go with the flow. Why chose the harder path by being different when it would be much simpler to write the same old story that has proven to be a sure win with readers?

The answer is very simple.

Because I want to stand out from the crowd. I want readers to recognize me for my own unique stories and the unique writing style that brings these stories to life. Yes, it takes more work to write a complex fantasy plot, especially one that is fresh and readers aren’t used to it (and don’t get me even started on the neverending hours that you will spend on research). Yes, you are going to have moments when you are grabbing your head and cursing the day that you decided to write this intricate plot overflowing with symbolism and hidden meanings. But you know what? In the end, when you are holding your book in your hands, you will realize that the countless sleepless nights and piled up stacks of papers were all worth it.

Now, once you’ve decided what the general plot is going to be, where to actually start? How to pull in the reader enough to keep him turning the pages?

The cycle of doubt begins anew, and I found that in overcoming this next burden, it helps me to physically step away from my laptop and literally go somewhere in nature – whether it’s a walk in the park, or just sitting on a bench somewhere and observing people. Such a simple notion, yet so effective – you would be surprised how fresh air and an increased amount of oxygen works wonders on the brain! And if you still have uncertainties when you return to your desk, take a piece of paper and jot down every idea that pops into your head. If the book was to start off with the main character speaking, what would he say? Where would he be? How would that single line weave in with the rest of the book? Would it be better if it wasn’t the main character speaking right away, but rather some side character that will act as a narrator? Or if the opening lines were to be an illustration of some grand event that will later be pivotal for the actual storyline, how revealing should it be? How much is too much?

Don’t get discouraged if you have three sheets of papers with random scribbles all over - my own notes sometimes resemble complex confidential battle plans rather than neat and organized author pages. Once you’ve jotted all of your ideas down, go over them, one by one. If it doesn’t feel right, scratch it out; it might be a great idea but maybe it’s not the right time for it, and that’s absolutely fine. Eventually you will be left with two or three starting points that you will deliberate over until your eyes fall out, and this is where my secret weapon comes in – my intuition. Don’t be afraid of taking a risk. Listen to your gut feeling – it will never steer you wrong!

Isabella Khalidi (pen name) is an adult dark fantasy & romance writer. Her novels are deep and complex, filled with scorching romance that leaves the reader breathless and yearning for more.

She is currently residing in a small town in Europe where she is finishing up her medical studies while simultaneously helping out in her local family owned shop. From an early age she has shown love for ancient lore and mythology, igniting her dream of one day becoming a successful author.

The Snows of Nissa is her first published novel, with the Forgotten Kingdom Chronicles as her debut adult fantasy series. You can find it on KU and Amazon. Follow her on Instagram @isabellakhalidiauthor.

 

The Biggest Problem is Between the Keyboard and the Chair

 

My greatest writing challenge. Hmm. How much time do you have? I've been through a list in my head. I thought about saying 'drafting' which is true, but it's a symptom. Not the root cause. Okay. So then I thought about claiming that carving time out to write was my greatest challenge but that leads to the fact that I'm stupidly slow to write. Which again, is a symptom, not the root cause. All of these lead back to one single factor and that's me. I'm the problem.

My brain is addicted to getting it right. No. I don't know what 'it' is. But my brain is wired to believe that there's  a Right and a Wrong way to put a story together. Can we all agree there are a million ways to tell the same story and none of them is wrong or right? Can we tell my brain? My head believes I'm a terrible person and will be haunted for the rest of my life if I get my story wrong. I wrote all that and I know it's not a rational way to live life. But there it is. My single greatest writing challenge: spending an hour over a single paragraph trying to get the words  and the feeling of it just right.

To top this nonsense off, I add in a day job, a house perpetually full of too many people, and a deeply introverted nature that gets zero true alone time. It's a recipe for a great big mess. Which is an apt description of the situation.

It did take some time for me to realize that writing requires me to unmask. I can't give over brain space to characters and conflict and still maintain a pleasant expression. Can't do it. I need to be able to be completely unmask the autism while I write and the utter lack of expression (or what gets taken as a mean expression) makes the fam SUPER uncomfortable.

I almost highlighted and deleted this whole blog post because my brain is telling me that this isn't what anyone wanted to know or read. I should just write a light, surface piece about how I find drafting to be difficult and what steps I take to work through it. I'm resisting that voice. Maybe what I'm posting is wrong. Or dull. Or too random or whiny or whatever else these synapses and electrical currents are trying to get me to buy. Fine. I'll be all those things.

To address the situation, I'm building fences around writing time - time when I can close and lock a door and everyone else can adult while I write. The next step is to close out distractions - for one hour of writing time, I have the work computer on, too, and that is not at all an ideal situation. That needs to be handled. I've made a bargain with myself to free write scenes a couple of different ways so I can pick the bits that hit just right from all of them. It's still slow - but it's faster than agonizing word by word and sentence by sentence. I'm slowly working for speed again. It'll take a bit before I actually talk about speed but at least there's a plan and a framework. I'm also working on allowing myself to feel my way through a scene rather than worrying about how it sounds. I have a long term goal of kicking the day job to the curb. It's barely a shine of a rising star on the horizon, but it is there. Step by step. Word by word. I'm following that star.

To Nap or Not To Nap

It’s fully summertime with its 90 degree Fahrenheit heat and activities! So it’s quite fortuitous that our topic of the week is to identify our greatest writing challenge. Are you aware of yours?

Do you struggle to get writing done during certain seasons or holidays? I know many authors who take off around the winter holidays—too much egg nog and twinkling lights to ignore! And I know some authors, like myself, who have kids home in the summer—which is a time demand to work around. 

The warmest season of the year is a tricky for me to carve out writing time, but I’ve come to rely on practices or tournaments that allow me to find a patio or bench for me and my laptop. But it’s not my greatest writing challenge. Energy is. 

I have a chronic disease and depending on where my iron levels are at, my energy tends to tank in the afternoons. Not merely a little run down, but a full on brain e-break stop. 

Energy dips are a known thing for me and if I’m going to be productive, for anything, I need to plan around my physical capabilities and make sure I’m eating and drinking what my body needs to ride that rollercoaster back up to the top. Some days my challenge wins out, and that’s okay. Because I know that there’ll be inverse days where I’m able to get more done than anticipated.

Having a writing challenge doesn’t have to mean you stop. Yes, it can be very difficult, but allow yourself grace and time to figure out how to work with it. 

May your weekend be filled with words!

Trusting the Creative Process

 Happy Summer Solstice, all!

This week at the SFF Seven, we're talking about our greatest writing challenge and how we manage it.

In some ways, this is a moving target for me, because it seems that - like clockwork - each book presents its own challenge. With 64 published titles under my belt, I feel like I should have this process down and there shouldn't be surprises.

No such luck.

What I have to constantly remind myself is that the creative process is its own creature. It's this connection to something beyond ourselves and thus is not within our control. Particularly for a writer like myself - I am incapable of pre-plotting and write for discovery, relying entirely on intuition - letting go of that desire to control is critical. It can also be difficult, especially when I'm trying to write to a particular idea or market.

For example, I recently wrote one-hundred pages of a book for my agent, according to a very particular comp. Let's call it Ghost meets Out of Africa. (That is NOT it, but that's one of my all-time favorite fictional comps. Points if you can name the movie it's from.) In thinking about this project, I consulted my friend, Melinda Snodgrass, incredibly talented novelist and screenwriter who counts among her credits the Star Trek: Next Generation episode The Measure of a Man. I asked her how closely I should follow the beats of Ghost, if at all. She gave me an incredulous look and asked why, when I had a hugely successful story blueprint right there, I would do anything but follow those beats?

So, I tried.

Turns out that, not only am I incapable of pre-plotting, I also can't follow an outline to save my life. I struggled to write that book. Having the story laid out in essence should have made it easier. Instead it made it 1,000x worse. For me. Because that's not my process. Once I abandoned that outline (sorry, Melinda) and followed my intuition, the words began flowing.

That's the major challenge for me: remembering to trust the process. Particulars change with every book. This principle endures.

Beginnings: The Hardest Necessity

 This Week's Topic: What is my greatest writing challenge and how do I manage it?

My greatest writing challenge, eh? {Ponders long list of difficulties and I-don't-wanna-have-to-do-its} Uhm. Hmm. For me, the hardest part of writing has to be...

Beginnings. 

Yep, you read that right. The beginning of the story damn near defeats me every time. Ya know, that really necessary, can't possibly be skipped, gotta-hunker-down-write-it start of the tale? Yep. That's my biggest challenge. Occasionally, the torment only lasts through Chapter One; but, more often than not, the entire first arc is a cluster of TMI fuckery. I'm info dumping, introducing more characters than died at the Red Wedding, blathering backstory blargle, and extending a 3k-5k chapter into 10k+ diatribe. Phil Collins is screaming about the Land of Confusion as I manically repeat, "just get the words on the page, you can fix this disastrophy later."

Word vomit. That's how I manage to overcome my biggest challenge. Pretty image, innit? Alas, there is nothing pretty--much less redeemable--in the early attempts of any of my stories' beginnings. I keep writing and rewriting them until I've become familiar enough with my characters and their GMCs to concisely tell--make that show--the reader the bare minimum of what they need to know to advance to the next chapter. Okay, okay, okay. "Bare minimum" is subjective, and viewed through the lens of my now thoroughly immersed experience of the fantastical world I'm creating. 

That's the catch. That's the root of the problem and the only way to address it. I have to become completely immersed in the world as seen through the POV character's mind in order to sift out the extraneous until I'm left with the salient. Only then am I certain of where, when, and how their journey starts. 

My opening chapters are in a constant state of revision until I've finished drafting the book. Making it to The End is how I know the evolution of my characters as shaped by the world I've created. Once I've experienced the protagonist's full story, I'm finally capable of extending a hand to the reader and asking them to come along on our adventure. 

For me, the first chapter written is the last chapter completed. 

Beginnings are hard.