Should Writers Stop Writing?

This is a very debatable question. For me personally the answer is yes. Sometimes the best thing for me to do is to not write. That doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about it. Often I can be mulling plots and scenes over and over in my head. There are times when life does get in the way and writing simply cannot come first.

When this happens, I deliberately put my pen down and stop. I believe there are times when we all need to do this. It doesn’t mean I put my pen down for days or weeks on end; just a little time out. The following outlines a few reasons why I do this.

First of all, I need to let my stories breathe. Whether I’ve finished a chapter or completed a whole work, I need to take a step back from it for a little while. It’s amazing what can be seen when you go  back to it. Just putting a little distance between you and your words sheds incredible light.

Like many other writers, I also have other interests in my life and a day job that needs attending to. But it’s good to be able to focus on these others. By putting time and effort into something else, the cobwebs are still being cleared behind the scenes. Instinct always lets me know when it’s time to return.

Image my-moleskine.com

It’s also good for me to schedule a day off. We all have time off every week from our day jobs so why not writing? Having a day off, time out, allows the batteries to recharge thereby avoiding burn out.

How far can my mind expand? Some days not very far at all, other days way too much. Either way it can feel like it’s going to snap and break. Take the time to convalesce. Make yourself take a mini holiday, even if it’s only a weekend one. It’s also works wonders to step away from technology all together. Unplug for as long as you need. Get back to basics, get in touch with nature; sit in it, breathe it, see it, feel it. Taking a step back allows you and your story to breathe. Before you know it, you will feel refreshed, reenergised, and more than ready to tackle putting pen to paper again.

Image talkingwriting.com

So don’t be afraid to set your writing aside for a little while. It doesn’t mean you stop being a writer; it doesn’t mean you’ll never come back to it but sometimes it’s the best thing you can do for both yourself and all your future stories.

Questions your readers should not have to ask

The most important thing a writer can present at the beginning of any scene is a question that will hook readers into needing to know the answer. The second most important thing is making certain that question isn’t the wrong question. You want your readers asking tangible questions. Who stole Grandma’s favourite vase? How is Marg going to escape the Pit of Despair? Why did Cinderella order glass slippers a size too large?! You don’t want your readers asking the dreaded four-word question: What’s going on here? Or, worse, the end-of-the-line three-letter one word question: Huh?

Image gedwardsmithblog.com

Be cautious of creating false suspense, the kind of suspense that has readers floundering to understand the fundamentals of your scene, rather than forging ahead with explicit, clear-cut questions. Apart from making it clear up front who your character is, their age, what they look like and other characteristics, the following is a list of questions your reader shouldn’t have to ask.

Where is this scene taking place?
Don’t leave your characters exploring The Matrix’s White Room. Readers need to know if the scene is taking place in a café, a forest, a bedroom, or an airplane.

What year is it? Or day, or season...
This is particularly important if you are writing historical fiction, or some other kind of story in which the date is important. Familiarize your readers with any time-sensitive information.

Who is this character interacting with?
If other characters are present in the scene, give readers a little help by naming them. “He” or “she” just doesn’t give readers much to work with the first time they’re introduced to a character.

What is the narrators relation to the other character(s)?
Readers should almost always know everything the narrating character does. Unless the other characters in the scene are strangers to the protagonist, fill readers in on how the narrator knows these people and what he is doing with them.

What is the character trying to accomplish in this scene?
The character’s goal in any given scene is arguably the single most important bit of info to share with your readers. This is what drives your scene. This is what gives birth to those concrete questions you want readers to be asking.

Why should I care about any of this?
Why? This is the icing on the cake! This is the question you must answer if you want readers to keep reading. Whether the answer is curiosity, emotional investment, or sympathy, you have to supply readers a personal reason to care about finding the answers to all the rest of the questions you will present in the story.

If you can make certain you’ve satisfactorily answered all these questions in the opening of your book and, to a lesser extent, in the opening of every scene to follow, you’ll free up readers minds to concentrate on the questions that really matter!