The Discouraging word...

One of the hardest parts about writing a book, or creating great art or music is getting discouraged with the work. 

Most of us start with a great idea, that is, "in short"- meaning we have the summary, and the "meat" of the story needs to be added to make it into a full-length novel. Ninety-Nine percent of us don't have the whole idea in our heads when we sit down to let the work possess us. 

Instead, most of us channel the demons inside to make our work complete. We fight with the monsters. We ride the winds and light the fires. We try and keep up with the waves of struggle and capture the emotions in our words or paintbrush strokes. We cut our flesh and insert ourselves into what we create. And as the process unfolds, it slowly murders us with its purpose, so we build it up. 

Consequently, it breaks us and weighs us down, yet we struggle to lift it with our very souls even if it drowns us. 

As we push, the pressure builds and builds until we explode, are spent, and are done with the work. We collapse into immobile heaps of worthless personage and look to our creations to reassemble ourselves (yeah, it's that damn dramatic).

Discouragement happens when we lose the battle, and there is a lull in the progress. Discouragement makes our wheels screech to a stop, and the beast that chases us finally catches up. It proceeds to spread our work and unleashes critical voices and self-talk.  So we slow down, consider our skill, and eventually stop. 

The worse thing that can happen to a writer or artist is a full-stop on the words, the notes, or the strokes. Writers, Artists, and musicians need the winds of change to push us forward. Our sails need that air to move us. If we aren't moving our story or work ahead, then we are dying inside. 

So, How do we escape the lull, the doldrums, the dead zone?

Sadly, there isn't too much advice I can bring to the table on this one. I can say that this "state," the downtime (this discouragement), is the real battle of the author, artist, and musician. Capturing truth, conflict, and slices of life is what we do. If we capture nothing, then our work becomes nothing. And that, my friends, is the reflection of the abyss that we are warned against staring into.  

I can say this much about getting relief; several stories languish in my idea drawer, most of them were victims of discouragement. A few years ago, I stopped abandoning my work. No matter how lame and sick they were, I never put them down until they were complete. I fought through that sickening stillness until the last page. Some will never see the light of day; they are the warped, twisted mutants that live in my attic. And even though they never made it out into the world, I can breathe knowing that they are no longer looming over me with their lives half told. 

Every once in a while, I take a look in that folder and see how close they are to being workable; sometimes, they reach out to me, and I go back and finish them. 

Always finish the work, even if it isn't how you planned it. Finished work is a whole lot easier to work with than unfinished work. Refuse to let discouragement take that from you. Make that monster, that child of Frankenstein, rise from its grave. You don't have to turn it loose to terrorize the neighbors; you can put it up and move on if it isn't worthy of the light of day. It's easier to polish a complete work than its constituent parts.

Cheers, my friends, keep on creating!