Monday, May 30, 2011

Those Two Words that Writers Hate.

So, after being super eager to get my blog up and running, I went and abandoned you all.  My bad!  I promise I’ll try harder to post a regular ... um ... post.  But what has me holed up, you ask?  Two words: Writer’s block. 

Well, it wasn’t writer’s block straight away.  I did some beta-reading (one of my awesome beta partners, Sarah Fine, sent me an un-put-down-able manuscript), I sent her my manuscript, we spoke, we bounced ideas off of one another, we laughed, I cried when it was decided my manuscript needed a complete overhaul – and then I got down to business. 

Everything was running smoothly.  I was adding the necessary chapters in order to have a consistently alternating PoV, instead of a couple of chapters for one character, then one chapter for another, and so on.  I was having fun adding more personality to my characters.  I tweaked, I deleted, I got over my fear of short chapters ... and now I’m stuck again. 

On a short chapter. 

It’s a pivotal moment.  I could add tension, but there’s already a lot of tension.  I could add more secrets, but there are already a lot of those, too.  It’s one night – the night before all hell breaks loose – and I’ve got nothing.  Nada.  Zip.  But I NEED to come up with something in order to maintain that alternating PoV.

So I’m procrastinating.  I’m eating – a lot.  I’m checking Twitter every three seconds, and even scraping the bottom of the barrel by checking Facebook, too.  I’m ready to pounce on any DM, any Gmail Chat window, any comment that would give me a good excuse to minimise my manuscript document.

My question to you is: What do you do when you’ve got writer’s block?  Do you read?  Do you watch TV?  Do you exercise?  Do you sit at the computer and stare at the screen until an idea jumps out at you?

Please answer me.  Checking blog comments will give me something to do. J

Oh, and you can check out Sarah Fine’s blog here.  If you haven’t already, I promise you, you won’t regret it.  It’s coated in awesomesauce. J

7 comments:

  1. Music. It's the only thing that works for me. I've tried reading, watching movies, going for a run ... in the end music works almost all the time. I actually write with ear buds in now just to keep the juices flowing.

    Good luck with your WIP!

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  2. Thanks, Steven!

    I do love listening to music to get my creative juices flowing. I have a set list for my manuscript, but I find that I get too involved with the music to then concentrate on writing! It's tough. :)

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  3. I feel horrible.

    Not only did I completely forget you had a blog up and running...but I also feel like I haven't really been here for you when it comes to your revisions. You do know you can come to me with any questions or idea bounces too, right?

    Not only that, but I give you major props for still plugging away at this story considering how long you've been working on it. I haven't given up on Gemini...but definitely put it off to the side while I work on some other stuff so I can come back to it with a completely fresh eye.

    So if you need to borrow my fresh eyes they are here for you!

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  4. I freakin' love you, girl! I guess I've been so bogged down with it that I'm at a point where I'd feel like a burden!

    I'm trying to get these latest rewrites done, and then plan to send them to you, JD and Sarah for a big shakedown! Crossing fingers I can start querying in August/September.

    I'm so glad you're not giving up on Gemini. You KNOW I loved that, and I know you'll kick its ass when you're good and ready. And I've been meaning to ask if I can have a look at your YA when you're done? Pretty please???? :)

    In the meantime, stay tuned, because if I lose much more hair with this MS I'll be sending you some bits and pieces to devour! :D

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  5. Sarah's awesome! And I LOVED the comment about scraping the bottom of the barrel with FB!!! :D Maybe you're scared? Because it's such a pivotal moment? Remember you save the older draft so you can always go back to it. What I do is I sit down and force myself to write. Just write whatever. I don't care if it completely sucks, just keep going. And pretty soon, you should be good to go. Let me know if that helps!

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  6. Lisa! Yes! I work similarly to you. I write it twenty different ways and save them all. In the end I use a little bit from each scene to create a final piece. USUALLY! This scene had me climbing the walls, though. I was utterly blocked, and I DON'T LIKE ZE BLOCK!!! :P

    In the end it only ended up being a page, and I'm ok with that. It had everything I needed (or my character needed) to say. Hopefully it works. I guess my betas will let me know if it doesn't! :D

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  7. I spend way too much time on the internet!
    I also tend to nap. I think my brain goes into hibernation mode when I'm blocked. I will head to bed for an hour, telling myself than when I wake up it will be magically fixed. Then when I wake up I watch TV and still get no writing done. If I haven't worked through it in a day or so, I'll put a big highlighted note in my WIP saying "Needs more here" and come back to it later. Moving on to something else usually gets the brain going again.

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