I’ve studied stories for the better part of 5 years now. And not just stories, but their structure, characters, construction. I’ve analyzed plots, themes, dialogue. Have read books about how certain authors create, how to get unstuck, how experts analyze stories that work.
And yet I’ve still been stuck in indecision.
When I hear some people talk about their writing—especially people who haven’t done the work I have—it’s fascinating. Apparently, they can just do The Work. They just sit down at their computer and type up stories that pop into their heads as if it’s the easiest thing in the world. And maybe, to them, it is.
I don’t need to rehash how perfectionism keeps me stuck, but the idea of indecision is interesting. Because I know how few plots there actually are. I know how patterns are repeated. And tropes recycled. Nothing is totally unique.
But when I sit down to write my own stories, they all feel cliché before I even type the first word.
And while some of that is wanting to be perfect even from the first draft, some of it is from lack of repeated practice. If I wrote more, I’d build up the experience of what I need to do to get to the end. To finish the story. To have fun while writing it and be uniquely myself on the page. For me, it’s all about diving in and doing the work.
Well, that and making the decisions necessary to finish my stories.
Which means I need to think about when I write best. Where I can get myself in the zone. What stories I love and why certain characters resonate with me. It means I need to consider my constraints and set up parameters around how to get the work done.
Or, it means I let myself be caught up in indecision and never write again.
(# Of words I wrote for my manuscript today: 313)