The Draft Withdrawal Shakes

On the first night of every new writing class I teach, I have the students introduce themselves and be greeted in the manner of an AA meeting ("Hi, my name is Melvin..." "Hi, Melvin!!!").   This is not an arbitrary ritual.

The writing junkie: No matter how many times we quit it, we go back.  No matter how sick the process makes us, we keep at it; no matter how we endeavor to reduce the dosage ("One little blog post - how could that hurt?"), soon enough we need more and more of it ("This novel ought to only take me a few years"). 

Reams have been written (this in itself a testament to the awesome power of the disease) about the wonders and attendant angst of the writing process.  Yet despite the terrible reputation of this pursuit (no one's scientifically determined the ratio of joy to horror, but my money's on higher figures for the latter), we obsessively pursue it.

Everybody has their reasons.  I suspect that for me it's about control: It's only by having a self-created alternate reality continuously unfolding in my head that I can cope with the general hopelessness of trying to affect, you know, reality.  So without my daily writing fix I'm prone to copelessness. 

Not that getting one's fix is fun.  The terror of facing the blank page has been plentifully chronicled.  I consider myself a curator of procrastination methods, and I can't count how many times over the past three months spent writing the first draft of a screenplay, I used up almost all of my allotted writing time in trying to avoid writing.  Yet here I am, barely four days past completion, fingers shaking, stomach quaking, psyche unsettled, brain nettled - itching to have that empty screen in front of me again, and bitching about its absence.  It's like that Woody Allen joke from the beginning of Annie Hall:

Two elderly women are at a Catskill mountain resort, and one of ‘em says, ‘Boy, the food at this place is really terrible.’ The other one says, ‘Yeah, I know; and such small portions.’

For Alvy Singer, this is a metaphor about life; I'm applying it to the writing life.  Why would I want to be back in that particular saddle, after having been bucked and thrown from it on a near-daily basis?  If you're a writer, you know why, of course - there's something inarguably divine about the experience when it happens to go right - but still...

Still, it helps to be mindful that such is the junkie's life.  I was complaining in an e-mail to a writer friend yesterday that I was in a funk, had become a slug, didn't want to go anywhere nor do any thing, that I felt worthless, in despair over having wasted the best years of my life, etc.  His succinct reply: It's called finishing a script. 

Right.  So as I dutifully practice my own preaching (i.e. I always put away and lock up a draft for a minimum of two weeks after completing it), I'm trying to come up with ways to cope.  Bicycling is generally helpful.  An Allagash can be pretty effective.  But boy, am I open to suggestion.

What do you do for your writing withdrawals?  Living the RomCom wants to know.

[images: alternativereel.com, wtnrradio.com & pharmacy-and-drugs.com]

Comments

[E.C. Henry]

Billy,

First, congradulations are in order. You finished your draft. Good for you! Writing is seldom easy. Though I did recently ready via Scott Myers' "Go Into the Story" that Michael Arndt while writing "Little Miss Sunshine" did his first draft in 3 days!! (My eyes bulged when I read that) And what a story that turned out to be, eh?

Last time I unwinded from a script, it was a two parter epic biblical story that I spent a YEAR on, I went salmon fishing with my dad at Westport, WA. Still eatting the fruits of that labor. Nothing like king salmon.
I think bike riding is great unwind for you. Maybe do something with the wife. Why not drive up and visit the wine country in no. cal? Weekend thing, your own personal "Sideways" experience.

I would also start thinking about your next script, Billy. Visit you idea chest and start kicking some new things about. That's what I do.

Still, you rode that writing bronko and finished your pesky draft, and for that I say, "Good job, sir."

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

[N]

Learn a new language. Takes your mind off anything and everything else - and think of all the new great stories and poetry and other literature you'll be able to read without the crappy translations :)

[Nick]

I watch movies. The good ones. It helps me remember why I'm toiling for months over a script someone may never read -- because I want to deliver the same emotional experience I get every time I watch a great movie.

[Barbara]

Margaritas at the beach. (And start a new project.)

[Todd]

I always launch into another project as soon as I'm finished with the previous one. In fact, I usually start thinking about -- sometimes even planning -- that next project a month or two early so that I'm not just ready, I'm eager to jump in again.

[Christian H]

Well, the first thing I do after finishing is seeing what I have in the front of my head to write.

I have tons of ideas so I can just pick a random number.

I like to study what I wrote and blog about it also. That's the most fun. Self-edification can save you from bad notes and criticism.

If you know you base your progress on proven techniques, you've done your job and you can certain that you won't need to do a "page one rewrite." (Unless you mean page one of your outline)

Of course, I have to share all of this with my day job so I do that a lot.

Maybe I'll get lucky with my family comedy.

[Maestro]

Billy,

Why don't you write ... a song?

Works for me - Mark

[Bill]

You can do nothing. Misdirection will not help you. Exercise cannot redeem you. You are thrall to your despair and can only ride like flotsam on the waves of your gloom. It has always been so; it will always be thus.

On the other hand ... While I don't consciously do something in particular, I find I end up writing anyway, though most of it is crap. Sometimes it's endless bitching because I'm lost in my funk. Sometimes it's simply silly, the result of writing for its own sake. And sometimes, it's forced: I make myself write something, almost like an assignment, just to keep writing. Not all writing has to be result oriented. It can be more about the process than about the result. (However, good ideas can come out every now and again.)

If writing is an addiction then perhaps it's worthwhile seeing it this way: the gin is gone but there's rye in the cupboard.

I suppose everyone has their own approach but all those approaches are really about trying to distract ourselves from our funk as we wait for writing to kick in again. But as I've said before, I think we're always writing because writing is about more than putting words down. It's about seeing the world and thinking about it a certain way. And somewhere in our head we're always doing that, even though we may not be aware of it. Sooner or later, though, it knocks on the door again and wants to get it set down in words.

Until then, we wait.

[Racicot]

OMG Billy, you live in Venice Beach!

We (some of us, anyway) are readying ourselves for winter - and you live in frikking Southern California.

Hahahaa.

Seriously tho, when I finish a script I of course never *believe* it's truly finished (it ain't), but usually occupy myself with profuse masturbation or ebaying crap.

[jamminGirl]

Well good for you. Beating procrastination and finishing a first draft should be celebrated. Go online, buy some Caribbean Black Rum Cake, a cuban cigar(or a spliff) and the best coffee in the world, Jamaican blue mountain coffee, plug into some Bob Marley and chillax!
... Or you can celebrate however you want even if it doesn't mean doing business with the Caribbean, lol

Anyway, congrats :)

[Amy]

Bake. :) Yesterday I finished a draft of a tv pilot and then I went home and baked a batch of cookies.

Writing may be more important to me, but the pages aren't as tasty.

[Anna from Sweden]

I play the piano. Not that I'm good at it but it's one of those things that help absorbing your mind for a while. Aerobics is another thing (note: the choreography has to be real hard). Also, there's nothing like sitting in a café, looking at people and planning your next super-duper project...

[mernitman]

Thanks, EC - I have been biking. And I already had two other projects burnered, so eventually I did pick one up.

N: I've always wanted to learn Swahili...

Nick: True that. I can't NOT watch movies.

Barbara: I'm there.

Todd, I'm in your choir. Had one on board asking to be picked up.

Christian: Go family comedy!

Maestro: Y'know... I used to do that for a living. And now... It would be fun if I can remember how.

Bill, your first paragraph is thrilling.

Racicot: Two great suggestions!

Jammin: I like the way you think. Do some business with the Caribbean...

Amy: Oh, man, I picked the wrong time to go off sugar.

Anna: Looking at people is always a favorite pursuit.

[Anna from Sweden]

Watching people... Okay, I know sometimes my English sucks. Sorry...

[Account Deleted]

It's just a good feeling to finish something. Even if it is only a first draft. Celebrate any way you like, then move on the next draft.

Write on.

KR