The writing process , taking breaks and lessons

 

With my ongoing thesis project which incidentally is also my next fiction book, life has been pretty overwhelming. Especially when you are writing about characters battling some form of trauma. 

When I interviewed authors in the past, they have always talked about living with the characters all day and night. I often wondered what that would feel like. And the past three months has given me that experience. When I was writing a story, I was in the character's head all the time, feeling their pain, grief and myriad emotions.  It was exhausting. Probably more exhausting than doing a triathlon race. But I had to undergo this ordeal in order to bring authenticity to the voice, story, setting and the complexity of the characters. 

I had a similar experience when I was penning down my memoir couple of years ago. I had to relive some of my painful experiences in order to bring authenticity to my journey and voice on the page. But the efforts paid off especially since A Turbulent Mind has been receiving some accolades and recognition. Thats why its important to take breaks in between your writing. I discovered these little breaks actually helped in accentuating my writing and avoided the infamous writer's block. What I normally do while taking these little breaks is either go for a little stroll, read a book or watch a movie. Or I just watch some sports on television. 

The previous weekend ended up being a delight for a sports buff like me. Watching the men's and women's Wimbledon finals, the Copa America final and the Euro 2020 final. After a long time, I was watching television non stop. I've always been a firm believer of sports being one of the greatest teachers. It teaches you to be focused, determined, disciplined, consistent and most importantly humble. Humility as a writer takes you a long way, I realize. When you are open and receptive to feedback instead of being defensive and closed, its amazing how you end up looking at your story/writing in new light. This helps you improve your story and craft in every possible way. I personally learned so much in my last two semesters with regards to fiction writing. 

Another lesson that I learned from sports which I apply to my writing is to be motivated. Writing is a lonely process. Of course there are times when you get together with your community and write together. But most of the time, the distance doesn't make it feasible. This is a time when you struggle to find that motivation. And thats when I trace back to some of my races. Both running and triathlon are lonely sports. While you train in a group, every person has their own pace. Some may be faster and some slower. There will be times when you find yourself along on a course/route. So I usually reflect on what motivates me to keep going. In an event, its usually the endorphins you feel after finishing a race, crossing the finish line and embracing the finisher's medal. In writing, there lies this satisfaction of seeing a number of pages written and envisioning your drafts to eventually morph into a book. A book that will touch people's lives in some way, earn some recognition and accolades. Such a vision compels me to give it all even if it means living the life of a character for a few days. In running, I believe that the hardest step is one out of the front door. After which there is no looking back. In writing, the hardest part is the one you take towards your laptop/writing desk. Once you start, there is no looking back except for the periodic breaks that is essential to enhance your creativity. 

Reading books is another great form of learning. I personally read a variety of genre-literary fiction, historical fiction, thrillers/horror/psychological fiction/ memoirs, mythology and recently started reading fantasy/sci-fi fiction. Its always interesting to understand the form, structure, plot, conflict, pacing, characterization, world building, scene setting and dialogue between the characters. For me reading helps writing the same way protein shakes help in fitness and building muscle. When you workout and deprive yourself of protein, you end up losing muscle which in turn could could result in an injury. Similarly writing without reading can end up in a loss of creativity and inspiration which could result in a hitting a wall/block. 

Movies: I'm not into watching too many Netflix series. However, recently I read an article about how watching movies or tv series could inspire your writing. Writers can end up looking at crafts like characterization, subtext in dialogue, scene seeing and the plot itself. I decided to watch a few movies-the summary of which will be in my upcoming post. I was disappointed by a couple of movies. My workshop mode was switched on and I ended up finding loopholes like characterization, motivation, the story arc and some derogatory content. 

I am in the midway of summer and have a month and a half to go before the start of my semester. More ideas, more reading ad more reading in the coming days. Also look forward to watching the Olympics.