Why I’m Writing Again
So, what changed? I wrote not that long ago about Why I Stopped Writing. And then I wrote a missive called Fuck Writing Advice. And today, on Threads, I ran across someone’s post about needing encouragement and then another on the grind of marketing your indy-published book. I realize that there are a lot of people out there who are trying hard to be writers, and most of the input and feedback they get is good. But there’s a lot of toxic shit out there, too; I know I suffered from it. Maybe we need more posts about why writing is fun and how you can make it fun…again?
I took a long break and played a lot of video games — thank you, Fallout 4 and Cyberpunk 2077, not to mention several other small, independent games on Xbox that I enjoyed. Whenever I feel burned out, or just done, as I was at the beginning of this year — we’re talking nine months here, walking away for a while seems like a good idea. And when I need a break, watching other people be creative works best for me to regain my own creativity. It’s there; it just needs to be recharged.
Video games, especially sprawling RPGs, which are my favorite kinds of video games to play, are great for rekindling your writing. They are for mine anyway. I love playing the games, but along the way, I get to experience all the fantastic things I’m also trying to do as a writer because all games start with writing. World building. Character development. Great dialogue. Amazing acting. The way so many world pieces fit together to form a perfect picture. It’s all there in the writing. They didn’t just start making a game. This was all done with purpose and careful planning.
Have you played Red Dead Redemption 2? Did you cry at the end? How about Cyberpunk 2077? Did you feel sad that you can’t save V? Even when she survives, she’s left powerless. She’s lost all her money, and she’s lost all her friends and love interests. She’s just a face in a crowd, when before she was the fucking queen of Night City. Video games take me on a journey born of good writing, and I love it. I play, but I watch, too. I pay attention to how the stories all weave together and how the characters develop beyond leveling and powering up. That’s writing, and it fuels my writing. The more I play, the more I start scheming plots after that initial brain break. I can’t help it.
The same goes for reading. The more I read, the more I think about my own stories. I read for pleasure, but I can’t help but read and see how writers do their thing, too. I loved how they wove this thing into the plot. I loved that turn of phrase. I loved that twist. I didn’t see it coming, but I looked back, and all the evidence was there. When you’re a writer, you’re doing double-duty in everything you read because you appreciate the craft, and when you’re swept up in a book, and it’s a winner, you want to go back and think about everything that made it a winning formula. Or not.
I won’t deny that I thoroughly enjoyed Stephen King’s “Fairy Tale,” but as I said in my review on Goodreads last year, the first hundred pages were a grind. I had to slog through it to get to the real story. But that’s analysis you can use. It’s a lesson you can use when you tell your own stories. I hated that; don’t do that. Did we need all that set-up in “Fairy Tale?” 100 pages?
Even when the game or the book isn’t good, there’s a lesson for you. It can get you thinking about your own writing. At least, as I’ve said, this does it for me. Graphic novels, too. Short stories. Anything fiction gets me thinking. And if you follow me on Tumblr, you know I get a million ideas from images. So, scrolling Tumblr blogs full of fantasy art and cyberpunk art and all sorts of other shit works for me. It gets me thinking of stories.
There are lots of other ways back to writing when you’re burned out, and that’s part of what brought me back. I gave my brain a break. I let all the pressure I put on myself, which I blogged about in the stories linked above, and dove into things that I like and that I know will bring me back around. If you’re burned out, figure out your strategies and get yourself back into the game. No rush. No hurry. There are no deadlines. Just tell your stories.