Large Casts & Writer’s High
I worked all day yesterday, and got nothing done. Well, not nothing, but it sure feels like it. I was making up names. Trying to organize all my characters in charts (thank you, Mind Mapper) so I could keep track of them.
I have seven big characters in this story. It’s mind-boggling, as they all achieve a main character status at some point. I’m juggling their arcs and trying to get it to piece together just so.
Then you add in all the secondary characters, and this is just difficult. I make charts and lists. I have tons of research to do, research that can’t be skipped or saved until later.
But this part of writing makes me feel so unproductive. I like words written. Laurell K. Hamilton has sometimes mentioned that she gets a “writer’s high” much like runners get a runner’s high.
While I sometimes get a research high that’s quickly drowned in guilt, I only get a writer’s high if I actually write prose, about 3,000-5,000 words. Or if I finish something.
So I’m missing writer’s high.
How do you achieve writer’s high? How do you feel productive when you’re mostly thinking and planning and researching instead of writing?
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Natasha Fondren is a writer traveling the U.S. in a camper with her four cats. She is currently enjoying the lizards and desert heat in Arizona.
Mind Mapper sounds intriguing, but their website is pretty useless.
Isn’t it, Written? I will say that I looked at ALL the brainstorming/mapping programs, and Mind Mapper was my favorite.
I hate that part too, but it’s got to be done. I’m not anywhere near as organized as you. I have a file for my characters, and just open that. For my main characters, I have separate files, but with my WIP, they’re the skimpiest I’ve ever done them.
Wow, neat, Edie! I’ve never done that before. I think you’re more organized than me, LOL!
That’s neat.
It not until the editing phase that I lose my writers high. Research is usually taking place when I’m excited about the characters and story.
Wow, really? That rocks, Travis! Can I have some of that juice?
OMG, you sound just like ME! I’m so totally writing a series with seven characters who will each have their own book. The series has an overarching plot as well as individual and more immediate plots in each book.
You’re right. Soooooo much information to dredge. What I’m learning, or at least what’s working for me, is only pulling up what is necessary for me to write THIS book. Yes, I need the big elements for future books to get this book right, but I don’t need the nitty gritty – that will work itself out in the OTHER book.
Hang in there. Once the pieces fall into place, you’ll be getting that high. And remember, doing the footwork ahead of time like this will make you soooo much more productive when you DO sit down to write.
Oh FUN, Joan! I love series! That’s awesome. I’m not writing a series, but an attempt at sort of an epic thing.
I hope you’re right about my productivity. I really pray you’re right!
I love the writer’s high. It feels like I’ve been in a cave or underwater and then come out/up and back into the real world for air. I sometimes only realize it when I come back into the real world.
Lately, I haven’t seen it and miss it very much. Life is changing and its like I have to call a time out to deal with it.
Some research I hate cause it’s boring but necessary. Other research can be interesting. It depends on the subject. It’s always nice when the subject turns out to be more interesting than we thought it would be.
Oh yes, Aimless! It’s like I feel alive again! Totally! And it’s such a relief that it came back. I miss it so much when I don’t get it!
Would you believe I haven’t written anything yet this year? I cannot wrap my head around a plot for my new idea and so I’ve done nothing. Maybe if I start with research, which I definitely need to do…
Melanie, I haven’t written much, either. So yeah, I can believe it!
Strangely, I think I only feel that high once the thing is done, and then again when it’s been accepted, then when I see the cover (if it’s good
), then when I see it on the publisher’s website, then when I get a check, then when I get a good review, etc. (You see the trend?):)
It’s all those things that come with publication that make me high every time. In between those times, it’s difficult.
Only if I’m really on a roll do I feel it when I’m dredging up the words.
Really, Kate? I feel flashes of exhilaration at those times, but it’s not as great as the “alive” and full-realized feeling I have when I have a great day of writing.
I’m with you on the rolls. They’re too far and few between, lately!
Gosh, I’m going to wish you a serious writer’s high for all the work and worrying you’ve been doing. Seven characters or more is an epic! Anyway, you know the drill- just keep the fingers moving (they actually do the thinking!)
Thanks, Rick! I’m going to tape this to my computer.
I’ve never written anything I seriously had to research. The most I usually do is Google something, or send an e mail question to a friend. Maybe that’s because I never write about anything different. Maybe I’m in a rut. Maybe I’m in a rut. Rut. Rut, I say. Rut.
Oh no, Robin! The most fun stuff to write is stuff you don’t have to research!
I get a kind of writer’s guilt if I’ve spent the day *only* reading or researching, even though it is totally necessary. But I always tend to write stories that require a phenomenal amount of research, because I like the stimulation of new places and subjects – so I’ve only got myself to blame! Writer’s high? I have to agree with Kate Sterling. The high comes when it’s too late to worry about it any more.
DWC, I am SO familiar with writer’s guilt! Omg, I get writer’s guilt CONSTANTLY! I’m impossible to please!
Research often produces writer’s high for me – at least once the basic plot is established – because I can’t help translating and interpreting the information/ideas into paragraphs and snippets that will fit some place in the novel.
I have to admit I’m enjoying the research, really! I just feel so guilty, that I ruin it! If the translation into words would happen a little quicker, I wouldn’t mind so much…
You do like to guilt-trip yourself, girl! It would be one thing if you were “researching” the insides of your eyelids, or the sudoku puzzles, for six months and not writing a word.
Research is part of the process! Embrace it!
I know, it’s terrible, Elizabeth. I’m always feeling guilty. I need to get over that!
You’re absolutely right!
Like you I only feel productive when I’m producing words, not when I’m planning. And, honestly,I never really feel any “high” from writing. As for characters, though, I have an odd neurosis. I can’t write about them unless I know their names. Mary will use placeholder names, or initials. But that stops me in my tracks. So I sometimes “waste” time agonizing over names when I should be writing.
I’m the same way, Eric! I mean, if you change their name, it changes them completely. I tried ONCE to write the story without the name, and it was a disaster. I got it done, but I couldn’t find a name that fit him. Once I picked a name, it changed him, and that changed the story. Ugh. Never do that again.
PS Thanks for mentioning Mindmapper, Natasha. I think I’m going to take a look at it.
It’s wonderful.