Buzz, Balls & Hype : The Doctor is In

Friday + Dr. S O'D = Writer's Therapy

I occasionally give workshops and seminars in my Brooklyn Heights office on topics of interest to writers. If you would like to be notified about upcoming events, email me at Dr.Sue at mindspring dot com.

Dear Dr. Sue,

I love to write and always feel good when I do. Still, my writing moments come in fits and starts, and I can't get myself into a steady, write-every-day mood. Sometimes I write for a few hours every day for a week or longer. Then, all of a sudden, sometimes even in the middle of a story(!), this period stops, and I can't get myself to write at all for days on end, sometimes even weeks.

A few months ago, I joined an online writers' forum. Together with a few of the people
there, I compete in writing contests. This, I find, helps a lot, as (1) there is a deadline and (2) there are others with whom I can talk about these contests, both of which make me get on with my writing. As I don't want to write for competitions only, I'd like to know if you
know any other ways I can be a more regular writer, instead of the now-and-again writer I am now.

Yours sincerely,
Ms. Fits-and-Starts

Dear Ms.,

It sounds as though you respond best in your writing to outside stimulation, rather than to inner demands or the pull of the story itself. This is not a problem, simply a matter of individual style which it would probably be helpful to recognize and work with.

Since you write best under time pressure, and you appreciate the opportunity to talk over your work with other writers, why not investigate a writing class? If it is not practical to travel to a live class, there are many excellent online courses. Look for a course that allows you to interact with other class members, and in which you are expected to turn in copy every week. I would recommend a class rather than a writing group, because the investment of money, and the role of the teacher as an authority figure, can serve as additional spurs to your productivity.

If you are unable to find a class you like, you may need to resort to more drastic measures. I knew of a novelist who was a committed activist for liberal causes. When she could not force herself to get going on a chapter she needed to write, she wrote out a check to Jesse Helms’s senatorial campaign, put it in a stamped, addressed envelope, and gave it to a friend with strict instructions to mail it if she had not completed the chapter within two weeks.

I don’t think you’ll be reduced to this, though. If you are able to write for competitions, you can write for a class, and chances are, once you are in the habit of producing for a set deadline, you will be able to impose your own deadlines and stick to them.

Susan O’Doherty, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist with a New York City-based practice. A fiction writer herself, she specializes in issues affecting writers. Send your questions to her at Dr.Sue at mindspring dot com.

Buzz, Balls & Hype

Because there are over 750,000 self-pubbed and 250,000 books published a year and they won't all get reviews in the NYTBR. Authored by M.J. Rose

June 23, 2006

The Doctor is In

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