Bad Writing Days

I hate it when I have bad writing days. It makes me feel unproductive and logy and worthless as a writer. Sometimes if you're in the middle of a story and you're not excited about it and it just fizzles.

I was trying to write a space story, and I didn't have an ending for it, and couldn't come up with one, so I tried just writing it to see if something would pop up during composition. It didn't. The first part was working out fine, but nothing creative occurs to me during the composition part. Maybe it's got something to do with the fact I'm working from an outline. I'm not looking for holes to go down or branches to jump onto. I'm following a linear path, and that doesn't allow for creativity. Once again, I prove to myself how not a gardener I am.

Creativity comes from the outlining process. It gives me a chance to back up and go again without losing much time. But I hate not finishing things. I know it's probably common for writers to have a bunch of unfinished stuff in the closet, but I don't write that many short pieces. So when I do give up, I feel like it's wasted time. But I have to close the doors that don't lead anywhere. I'd spend more time churning through it that I could on reading or writing something else that does work.

I guess the best thing is to make sure I learn from my mistakes. Don't start a story unless you have a full outline. Or at least an ending.