Editing Under the Influence

This probably comes off as a fuck-you-Hemingway or a threat to the virtues of sobriety, but in truth, I'm talking about an uglier influence: negativity. Normally, I'd say that this is is the time I'd rather divert to another task. I've also said that it's good to hate your work sometimes, so that's where I'll poke at this thought.

Some people poke bears. Some people get drunk and sleep with them. I'm looking at you, Hemingway.

It's impossible, for whatever reason, for me to like my work right now. I know it's not a genuine disconnect because these are ideas I was just recently excited about so they don't just magically suck-- all of my open projects at the same time? Something's up that has nothing to do with the quality.

However, these feelings can be paralytic. This is where I read about people going through what I am, always insisting to the blogger-- no, it's worse than everybody else's! I can't physically move, there's a weight on my chest, it's hard to breathe, my heartbeat is sluggish or feels like it's stopped, I'm numb. I used to be one of those insistent assholes so I'm calling your bluff. Despite loving my friends, my social anxiety doesn't just extend to stepping foot outside but to them as well. Despite the heaviness or chronic pain flareups, I can put one foot in front of the other (even if the results are a bit Bambiesque).

I'm pretty sure Hemingway wrestled Bambi too.

In these long slumps, unmedicated and encapsulated eternities, it can all feel pointless and hopeless, but it's not. I'm not irreparable, I'm not worthless, and I have to fight the damn goblins with those platitudes to the point of exhaustion, but guys, they're only as 'real' as we encourage them to be. For many of us, the price of immersion and imagination, the mania of it, just has an undesirable downside. I've even said I would trade the ridiculous highs for a serene middle ground, but that's also not a choice. How dare I simplify a complex problem? Well, would you rather give it validation to continue or kick its ass and belittle it? I'm a nurturer, but when it comes to negativity, I'll be a sadist any day.

Get out your gimp mask, depression; you're MY bitch now.

I know that it's not about choosing your attitude. I'm not belittling it that way. But I am saying you have to stop treating yourself like you're so precious too. What? You hate yourself and all you do? How is that precious? How is contemplating ending it all precious?  Even with your survival instincts going full retard, it's there and it's not valuable like hope. It's dismissive and catastrophic. It's telling you to nurse your pain and wallow in it because it makes you deep and strong. Like a vagina. You're a pussy. No matter how you feel about those words or their connotations, the fact is you're reducing your own potential to heal, becoming one piece of yourself when you're better than that.

Also, don't be a dick! Unfortunately, there are zero pictures of people giving a thumbs-up that don't look like total tools.

It took years to admit that those stupid exercises the therapist had given-- take a walk, don't eat garbage comfort foods, focus on breathing-- all of them were legit parts of ending sabotage loops, treating myself like I matter so I'm not encouraging more self-destruction and health issues to feel sorry for myself with. If you're still thinking about editing in this state, it may actually be valuable, but don't neglect self-care, don't use it as an excuse, don't make big permanent changes, and be okay with reducing your workload even if you are used to being a full time writer. Again, these are the sort of don't's integral towards my experience but do try them anyway. Also, probably don't confuse this with burnout for writing. I don't know if this is what people refer to as burnout because I know it's neither about the writing nor the passion or it wouldn't make sense to pine to write again, but no matter what depression or anxiety latches on to, this specific burnout isn't only solved by being able to work.

(*I'm going to add here that my perception of real burnout tends to be a complete revulsion or disillusionment, a lack of finding any value, not just enjoyment or state of mind. Burnout is something that you see in retrospect-- where you walk away and don't come back after an extended period of time. Perhaps this is why we fear it. The distance had to be established to realize it's not just a regular block.)

Writer's block?

 Facts-- while I haven't been able to pen my creative projects with any success, it does make me turn to blogging for introspection. I have been able to edit in short bursts (I do have more advice on this coming up). I'm hiding it from my friends, even though I probably shouldn't. Everything I do requires exhaustive effort but doing nothing is worse. So how do I function?

Not writer's block.

Well, I started by trying to find the emotional connection with my work, but it's pointless (try anyway). If I insist on loving it, I'll fail and get frustrated and it won't happen. Guess what? Don't need it. Instead, I do some joyless line editing. Look for grammar issues. It's a perfect time to outline because you're better able to be concise, grab important story points rather than thinking everything is important. This is where I do continuity checks, look at vocabulary, decide what points I might want to revisit later, creating turning points or Easter eggs.

And yes, because it's loveless, there is no marathon editing. I'm lucky if I can pump in two hours at a time. However, when I'm in a state where getting up to pee or eat is a huge effort, I'm not going to get militant with any other aspect of my life either. 

I might be talking semantics, but I'm not *really* saying force it. One of the reasons I juggle projects is because I often have to juggle basic needs with great effort. 'Nudge things around' is more like it. Shuffle it around. You're not trying to force it or snap out of it or even beat it out of yourself (no, Krista, no more misleadingly hot pictures of sadism). You want to be as firm as you can muster, which requires caution but diligence nonetheless. I know-- it's not easy. It's the hardest thing you will ever do in that moment. But you matter enough to try.

One thing about my issues is that I avoid medication at all costs. I have addiction in my past (present and future, but I'm not abusing/using now) and the side effects are worse than the problem. So yes, holistic means I have to feel the whole damn thing, not just the tip.

I'm trying to be serious, I promise on my pinky. But just the tip.

Medication numbed it but it also made me numb and apathetic and immobile. If you benefit from medicine, make sure you're keeping that a part of your self-care routine. Be an advocate against being a guinea pig if it's just slowly destroying you. This isn't a one-size-fits-all. It actually took my friends and family to point out I was getting much worse. Please make sure you have a support system that can point out how medication is affecting you because you might be too zombified to see it.

Being open to yourself about what you're feeling and what you need is a big part of learning how to walk yourself through a slump/depression. And I know the lows are terrifying and make you feel fragile and they ARE dangerous. We just don't always know what will trigger us into giving up. Celebrity and success clearly doesn't make you immune. It's okay to ignore social media or refuse to look at reviews or critiques, to avoid bad vibes or the risk. However, I do insist you find a way to exercise, mind your diet and kick away your crutches. Limp around, wobble and fall, but you CAN move. I'm not speaking from a pedestal or a safe place. I'm even more certain that you need tell yourself this at ground zero.

Regardless of whether the setback is mild or severe, you can't really actively get rid of it. There's no magic pill, no revolutionary workout, no epiphany from the work you love. Or at least, don't count on it. Because there COULD be is reason enough to work too!

But if you insist on throwing your money at something, I might have a pill to sell you. #shameless

 While there may be exceptions to what works, don't be afraid to try. Be an idea factory, write short prompts or scenes, blog, throw darts at pictures of people you don't like, stay in pajamas but still wander around the neighborhood. Because lying there, leaking and whimpering, only makes it worse. Don't nurse and encourage that fragility. Make yourself cry or get angry. Keep your lows an active forward-moving slump and maybe your work will benefit too.

There are a lot of factors involved though. The discipline may include long term attention to care, to coming to terms with setbacks, forgiving yourself the trickle of productivity. Just keep in mind that whether you're a long suffering depressive or one of them rare normal Pokemon that just isn't aligning to the task, there are methods to try.

For the last time-- not a Pokémon!

Find your strengths in your weaknesses and you'll get there.

Really, I hope I could make you laugh and cry at the same time. When you're all up in your serious feelings, a sense of humor-- I can't emphasize this enough-- is VERY valuable. I know some people like to watch sad movies, to get some good crying in, but I usually prefer a comedy, the stupider the better,  so I can look absolutely insane with the whole bucket of emotion.

Plus, inappropriate laughter is always the most therapeutic.

So yes-- edit when you're down too. Distancing yourself from things for fear of ruining them with your stupid, worthless, unenthusiastic, uninspired garbage is the exact opposite of what your work needs. If you want to be a dimensional writer, then don't tell yourself you need to be anything. You also don't need more layers to be deep. It's possible to write a phenomenal book when you're in total control; it's possible to write one when you're a hot mess. It's not the amount of strife that makes you deep or interesting, it's how you incorporate yourself into it. I get it; you don't want your sob story leaking into your strong themes. Again, when you can't trust the emotional aspect, you're still ridiculously capable of finding focus through surrendering to apathy. Rather than being critical of content or tone, remember to be a boring grammar nerd or a fact-finding vulture.

You're never completely useless, I promise you. Every aspect of humanity is tailored into a creative pursuit. There will be days when you can go above and beyond, days where you can meet expectation. So expect many many days of slumps too-- just... well...

MAKE THEM YOUR BITCH!

Do We 'Need' to Overcome Writer's Block?

Revisiting old topics is sometimes necessary when we find ourselves thinking about things more. There's a lot of pressure, not just from ourselves, but sometimes our writing groups or fans, to perform at 'certain' levels, but it's neither a finite amount nor something you can narrow down as a fault in discipline. When self-editing especially, it's necessary to create a kind of distance from your drafts and, depending on the genre, filling it with other work or writing isn't always the best course. First, why is it necessary? Well, maybe more so the case for your first edit of a draft, this is where it always seems to be important in my own work. I can't exactly make it 'new' so I have to detach myself from emotional connection or my love affair with the characters to be as impartial as possible. Luckily, my memory becomes shit when I step away for at least a week. And yes, it's a familiar voice, so it's still easy to gloss over things if I'm not careful.

However, this isn't about editing, so why does it pertain to writer's block? Depending on the complexity of your story, it's not really that different. Sometimes you get stuck and it's not because your story is grossly flawed. I wouldn't immediately jump to the worst assumption there. Sometimes, a 'block' is a signal that stepping away to think or brainstorm is needed. You may not want to outline for fear of it becoming too restrained, but you know at the point of a block that just free-flow isn't something you're confident in. You might even panic because you're bored. Oh gawd, if you're bored with your OWN story, what hope IS there anyone else will like it, right?

Right now, it's not about the 'anyone else'; this may be something you know already, something you hear a lot in many blogs. Right now, it's not even about you, really. Everything's not about you. It's probably not even about the characters, the story, the plot. Ha, so what does that leave? No, I'm not going to get all existential with you. It actually is about the story.

I know, it's general. 'The story.' Holy hell, isn't that all the things? Well, yes and no. You've probably gone for a short walk and came back. Nothing. You probably went full boot-camp and crawled back. Nothing still. You might have even gone on a vacation to the most inspiring place you've ever been and come back. How is there still nothing?

You're probably thinking about that a lot and it's driving you mad. Maybe you only have a golden hour or two a day where writing is even possible and you want to make the most of it. I don't need to tell you about the unconscious pressure that puts on you (but I am, and also using passive language to make you think I'm not). I get it. I've been all those places. Sometimes, we worry about what we're not doing and not thinking about the actual story at all. Sometimes, we're brainstorming like Thor-- no, wait, not brainless Marvel comic Thor, but like the bolt-throwing storm of the century type. Is it working? Still no?

So I've said before that it's sometimes attitude, sometimes the pressure you put on it.

Now, I'm here because I actually writer's-blocked myself from working on writing. Be a consumer, I said, but it's driving me absolutely nuts and I had to break my own rules. It's not that I'm completely afraid my muse will give me the middle finger (only a little afraid) but because sometimes we want to take advantage of the enthusiasm when we DO have it, knowing blocks are a thing.

However, it's this trial at disciplining myself NOT to write where I stumbled on some great ideas. I wasn't brainstorming and sometimes I was even fully engaged in shows that were nothing like my current work at all. Yet consuming and disciplining myself NOT to be a disciplined writer actually created a sort of fresh void for ideas to play. I didn't chase them away just because I'm supposed to be relaxing. I jotted them down, whatever little pieces were ninja-starred into my skull, then resumed my consuming.

Creativity is very much like a faucet, but you don't have access to the handle (although you can squish your hand over the opening and send the flow everywhere you don't want it when it's full blast). Experienced writers sometimes give you the impression that they have their own handle, but an abundance of confidence and output can make them feel like they do. Write, write, write, read, read, read and you too can be like me. Nah, don't worry-- it's not about gaining full confidence and control. Blocks aren't intentional procrastinating (at least, not always) and sometimes a trickle is what you have to work with. You're not really looking for perfect flow. It may not be where you want it, and maybe you're even on a deadline, but sometimes you have to extend any expectation. The tools that you use are going to part of your journey. 

Another writer's toolbox is what works for THEM. You probably think getting a toolbox makes things a little easier somehow, but you're not really going to know how to use them even when they tell you. How exactly can you describe how much pressure it takes before the tools break? How exactly do you measure the efficacy of a tool against a completely different story? Yes, read lots and lots of advice, be a little paranoid about the mastery of your craft, but don't look for 'shortcuts' or magic methods. Learn to spot how YOU procrastinate or when YOU might need a special tool for your story or peace of mind. Go ahead and poke around on blog posts about method (and madness). Shop for the writer you want to be.

You don't want another writer, famous or obscure, to tell you how to 'overcome' what might be a natural process. There's a reason why doctors are leery of dispensing depression medication. It's not just about the addiction, it's also sometimes masking an issue you NEED to confront. While some states in life are undesirable, treating them like they're not supposed to be there may be what's blocking you. Maybe you need to feel through something intuitively, feel the uncomfortable predicament, and know that you will eventually make the breakthrough you need to.

I'd advise not to give yourself deadlines unless you're officially working for a paper or publisher, not even for practice-- take advantage of not pressing yourself with expectations to gather other tools you'll need in the meantime. It's like trying to find a better job when you're working an overtime job already. You might be making it harder to find time or priority.

For those of you who DO have deadlines, from editors of a paper, publishers, etc. Well, it's not so much to you, but for those who are LOOKING to be in your shoes-- you might not understand how to give yourself a generous deadline, might need to extend it from time to time. You might also need to suck it up and turn in something you're not 100% on. No shame in that. I can't really speak for what that's like in writing, but deadlines in other areas are not new to me. Generally, being able to describe what went into it and why you need more time without projecting guilt as if you're at fault is the best you can do.

I"m going to wander off the topic since I said everything that needed to be said, but I do want to go after a rather shaky reason on why people insist on 'professional' editing. I hear it said time and again that a 'different set of eyes' is important to standard things like proofreading. That seems to imply that only an editor's first sweep is valuable. However, a professional editor worth anything isn't just a one-off thing. I certainly get that some people are emotionally attached or they just can't edit for shit. That certainly makes an 'outside' editor an important asset. Maybe I struggle with the attitudes about this because I'm a big proponent of self-editing since I'm capable. Perhaps some people are myopic about factual errors or pacing or development. Another good reason that I would say necessitates it. Maybe you're afraid your ego is too close to become detached. However, most writers I know that DO use editors, it's largely because they have a long-standing and sometimes even partial or 'safe' relationship built with that person. In that sense, aren't we still finding someone, 'brutal' or not, that complements our work? It's never fresh eyes once the work has been established. People I've edited for more than once, I even tell them that they may want new readers with every go. Not because I feel like it's harder to tell them the truth (quite the opposite-- I get more comfortable with criticism as the relationship builds. Not that I hold back ever. It's more a feeling that it's not as difficult). More because 'fresh eyes' aren't going to come from the loyalty you build. Ever. So how important are 'fresh eyes' really? I suppose it's up to the efficacy in each process (and yet another tool that isn't one size fits all).

Let's face it, all the fans, editors, villages and hugboxes do not a quality piece make, but then who judges 'quality' isn't some golden standard either? If literary critiques want to bitch about the quality of self-pubbing, they really only have their own beloved trad-pub gatekeeping to blame. Because money talks loudest, trad-pub being king got flushed with poorly edited bestsellers and crap getting past the gatekeepers. Yup, things like 50 Shades and Twilight gave everyone and their mom the confidence to say they could succeed. Yup, just as many people who thought it would be easy will fail. Low quality will CONTINUE to come out of both trad and self-pubs. Plenty of writers will 'undermine' the market by giving away their work for free and ask for donations only. Look, it's all fair game, I'm sorry to say. Other writers who underperform are NOT making me look bad. Fanfic writers are NOT making me look bad.

I kind of drifted here because it all correlates into the worries of writer's block. Nope, didn't forget. Many writers just get blocked because those dreams of grandeur wilt in the pressure of what's ahead, but guys, we really don't know. If anything, make peace with that. You're more prepared for the unknown than you think. As a writer, it's your bread and butter. You're already doing it. It's just a matter of sticking with it when your toolbox isn't up to par. You don't throw all the tools away and start over with every obstacle. Don't let your aspirations be that easy to throw away. If they are, well, do away with expectations and just enjoy it as a hobby. Professional anything will be about building discipline. No way around that. Just don't block yourself with some fatalistic look at a future that itsn't guaranteed.