This is a problem that is not well appreciated, but also is quite common among writers. Maybe it has a better name but I call it “mire.” It is this. You have begun what you wish to write, things are sailing along, everything seems to flow, and you are fairly close to your outline, if not right on it. And then, the more you write, and the deeper you get, it dawns on you that,
a. It is not going anywhere, or at least not where you wanted it to go
b. It is not good writing
c. Your arguments are not sound, or the plot is collapsing
d. All of the above… or other concerns.
Basically you are not happy with what you have written and don’t know how to fix it. This problem usually happens in that fuzzy middle part of your composition. You’re stuck. What to do?
Some approaches are the following.
• Relax, let your frustration calm, and don’t be hard on yourself. Try to understand that this happens to all writers, even the great ones. Step away from your computer (or however you write) for a while and engage your mind in something else, completely different. Your “walk-about” can be as short as 5-10 minutes, or as long as necessary – maybe days or weeks. Here is the interesting thing about your mind – it is still processing the problem whether or not you are consciously thinking about it. In fact often your subconscious will find a solution and then bring it forward into your conscious mind when you are more relaxed and receptive. Let your mind work without undue stress. Do something else for a while.
• Backtrack. Step back and rethink what you intended. Where did you want to go? What happened? What doesn’t work? What is logically inconsistent? What parts don’t relate cohesively to the whole? If you ask these types of questions, often the path around the mire will become obvious.
• Write alternatives. Parcel the issue into smaller bites and then write alternatives. This can be a paragraph or two, a whole chapter, or major sections of the piece. It is OK to write many different versions to explore what “works.” The solution may be a whole new continuous prose, or it may be a compilation of a number of different rewrites. The key is to keep writing and working at it.
• Toss it. This is may be a difficult thing to do, but sometimes you just need to toss parts of it and begin again. Or pare down significantly. When I wrote my first book I refined my manuscript down to 220,000 words! Then I took it to my editor. Long story short – it was finally published with 125,000 words (after ten rewrites), and the shorter version was much better. Good writing comes from a distillation process. Purification is getting rid of all of the slag. The slag comes from the mire.
All through the mire, I have found that my WhiteSmoke writing software and grammar checking program is an enormously valuable tool. When I’m stuck, it can suggest new words – antonyms and synonyms. It can suggest new phrases and style enhancements. Even merely correcting punctuation sometimes can help the clarification process toward better writing. You might wish to consider having it as part of your writer’s tool kit also.
