Trying To Get Back In The Groove!

Writing is a lonely profession, there’s no real team spirit when you’re the only one on the team. No one to root for you except for your subconscious, and there’s no one to encourage you to do your best work— that is all up to you. Finding motivation within myself is a struggle. I like being pushed and yes at times I don’t mind a cheer leading section. But as I look around, the bleachers are empty and on the field is yours truly—all alone trying to finish the game.

This is how it is. I'm all alone trying to get by on a few words that are swimming in my head. I want to paint the picture, but convincing myself that I need to sit and write is harder than I thought. In the past few months, I've lost that pull I felt a year ago to tell a story. My momentum is shot and I can’t seem to get in the groove. The story I'm in the process of writing is coming along nicely (I think). I have great critique partners, who read my words and completely do a number on my ego, but for that, I am thankful because they help me make my story better. They understand what all this means and what it entails.

No matter how long I sit and stare blankly at my computer screen, the words just don’t flow. They are there, I hear the voices in my head, but I can’t seem to transfer them to the page.

So, I have to ask:

Could it be writer’s block? How do I overcome it? And the motivation thing, how do I get it back?

Retracing Your Steps

There several parts of the writing process I enjoy most. Of course, the initial idea is the best part, and I feel, is the most crucial. The story pops into your head and boom off you go to get a few words down so you don’t forget. There’s huge excitement because in your mind this is a great story. You outline, and plot and do all the things you feel have to be done to get the story out. Rarely does the story ever develop the way we envisioned. That’s the work, getting your brain to connect with your fingers so the scene in your head can translate into paper/screen. But sometimes in the excitement of getting it all out, you miss a step or two. I try really hard to write on and edit later because my focus is on the ending, but sometime you can’t help it and the rewriting process starts before half the dang thing if finished. You retrace your steps because at some point in chapter 10 things just don’t fit. Something is off, the sequence of the story took a turn, and you can’t figure out how to get it back on track.

Every story has timelines and sometimes the timelines themselves don’t work well. My current WIP spans almost a year, so there are a lot of blanks that need to be filled. You get point A and B sorted out the way you want it, it’s almost perfect. However somewhere along the way, you completely miss point C and head right to D. This isn’t always a bad thing, but I suppose you have to be willing to explain some things, like what happened between point B and D, there are a lot of unnecessary blanks here now. The reasons should be there, I am after all the one writing the story, I should know. I’m not great and divulging reasons, even in my life I’m not good at excuses. I got stuck, not like writer’s block, this is different, this is much worse because now I don’t know where the story is going. As a writer, I’ve learned that it’s imperative that I have patience. Your state mind has to be in such a place that you allow those creative juices to flow. So with my patience in tow, I went back to the beginning. I reread, rewrote, edited, and moved around paragraphs and added some new ones to make the pieces fit. The gap was just too much and it didn’t make sense to me as I read the chapters I already had. this whole job of trying to get it right was sort of like starting over, which sucks because it’s a major setback, but sometimes you have to retrace your steps to make it all makes sense.

Tell me: Does your WIP have gaps? Was there ever a point where you really looked at what you where writing and realized ‘Hey, this isn’t the same story’? What did you do about it?

I Have An Office!

Over the past few months I have been looking for a place in my home I could call my work space. Since I started on this crazy road to become a writer, my office was located in the kitchen. My desk was either the kitchen table or the kitchen island. This was ideal considering the coffee maker was two steps away and always full for my benefit. I did read somewhere that caffeine and wine are a writer's best friends, a statement I have to agree with.

Last fall things got a little crazy and I got bogged down and neglected my writing. I needed to regroup and really think about this writing journey. Writing isn't easy; it sure as hell does nothing to boost your confidence level. Never in my whole life have I felt so exposed. The words I write come from me after all and to some extent the way I feel or have felt at some point or another. My mind reels with the characters I invent and the story I want to tell, so I decided to give this writing thing my all—not that I haven't been—and create that space I craved. A few months ago my two older boys decided they wanted to share a bedroom, so this left one of our four bedrooms empty. So the interior designer in me took a trip to Ikea and walked out with a book shelf that would look nice in an empty bedroom. A desk that was gathering dust in the basement made a very bumpy trip to the second floor and its new home. An old dresser, that I will tackle in the summer time to match the decor became a filing cabinet. All this hoping that having a small sanctuary in my home will inspire me to finish what I set to do a year ago. Write a novel. The only downfall to this new office is that the coffee and the wine are too far...

Tell me: Do you have a special place at home? A place where you can go to, shut the door and write away?

Lets Give This Another Go

Well, so it's been a while. Trying to keep up with life, writing, tweeting and blogging is a lot more demanding than I thought possible. When I started this blog it was to have an outlet where I could document my process as a writer. It worked well in the beginning, I had tried to maintain a steady blogging schedule, then summer came and the kids required my undivided attention—because god forbid I should finish one cup of coffee, let alone try to write or blog. So life got in the way, my writing suffered so did my blogging.

The most important part about being a writer is learning to manage your time, learning to work around the things that are impossible to ignore, like your family. I got a job, as a stay at home mom the one thing I craved was a bit of financial independence, I loved it. The job turned out to be something temporary, but it was nice to get away for a few hours a day and interact with adults. So much so that I nearly forgot that my goal was to write a novel. I’m not one of those people who can do too much at one time—I am the worst juggler on earth. Give me one thing and I will deliver no problem. Give me five and we are in serious trouble.

So my goal is to start over, to blog a little more, finish writing my novel Borrowed Sanctuary, and hope that at some point in the next few months I gain back the independence I got a taste of a few months ago. 

Tell me, how do you juggle it all? How do you prioritize?

All I Want Is Time!

I had a plan— it was a good plan. Kids were going to go back to school and during that time I would write a good five hours. Worked great the last school year. Got a lot done, I finished one novel (which I have yet to edit) and started a new one. Things were going pretty smoothly, then summer got here, kids were home and I woke early to have at least three hours of quiet writing time. Again worked really well. I couldn't wait until school started and get my five hours back, I needed them, I wanted them back. Then I decided to go get a job, you know make a little money. I have been the stay at home mom for too long, I needed some freedom and aside from writing working was another option. So, what's the problem now? I have absolutely no time! No time for me, no time for writing and no time to take care of the things that need taking care off. Most of the time I feel like a chicken with my head cut off. I have a wonderful writing group and I feel awful when I can't get to their critiques in a timely manner. But I want to, they have wonderful stories to tell and I love reading them. What's worse is that I am exhausted and when I am that tired, I can't just sit and write. I know what I want to get down on paper, the plot ideas never stop running through my head, but I just can't keep up. My energy is gone, hell, my inspiration is gone. I want to finish this novel. I want write the words The End, but I have absolutely no idea how to get there. I need a schedule, I work best on a schedule, and unfortunately, I'm one of those writers that can write at any time for any given length of time. If I give myself five hours than five hours it is. I'm lucky if I get one hour now.

Tell me: How do you manage work and writing? When do you write? Do you sneak a couple of minutes here and there at work to get your thoughts down?

Keeping An On-line Presence

It's hard enough trying to keep up with life, work and that extra curricular activity some us are involved in called writing. So how do we keep up our on-line presence? Well for lately, the easiest thing has been to tweet. Log on to twitter, stay on it, and read everyone's tweets and occasionally comment and re-tweet. It's also great for other writers who keep with their blogging activity, follow them, get on their blogs and follow that and hope that they turn around give you the courtesy of, if not following you at least check what your all about. Like most of you out there in the blogging and tweeting world, my following list is bigger than the followers list, but that’s okay. How do you do it? How do you create enough interest in yourself and your blog to create a great following. My life as is, is not very interesting. In fact, it's quite simple. I am a thirty something (let’s just leave at that) stay at home mom to three boys 9, 6, and 5, so as you can imagine my life is hectic to say the least. I have time to tweet because it's accessible, it can be done from anywhere. But between writing my WIP and Blogging, I choose to write because ultimately my goal is to finish writing my novel. I don't have the time to blog three times a week; I tried that I couldn't keep up. I do however have the time to post something that may be interesting to at least one person, although I secretly wish it would be interesting to a lot more. So to my 26 followers I thank you for taking the time to see what I am all about. I don't plan to stop, the most beneficial part about this experience is the knowledge I have gained in an industry that a year ago, I had absolutely no idea about. 

How do you keep up with your blogging schedule? Was it tough to keep up? Did you at any point get discouraged? 

I Get It! Another Word For Writing, Is Rewriting...

Michael Crichton has said: "Books are not written--they're rewritten."

No writer ever gets it right the first time. The initial process is about giving those clichés, dreaded adverbs, pat phrases and excessive dialogue tags a chance to come out and play. Revision mean you must dive deep into the depths of the dark side and tackle those sentences that just don't go with the flow, so to speak.  Most of our time is spent doing revisions and to some writers this part of the writing process is excruciating, mostly because they can't see what needs fixing, or they see it but have no notion how to fix it. There is always that fear we'll make things worse. I am convinced that anyone can write a story. This doesn't necessarily imply talent, only the ability to type, and a little determination, and time— lots of time. You might be good at it and you might not, but skill is not a prerequisite. A draft is nothing more than a barely cooked chicken. Anyone up for pink chicken? I'm not. So we throw our chicken back in the oven or the grill, whatever your preference, and continue to cook it until it's near perfect. 

The trick to good revision is to be able to look at our work without prejudice and to revise effectively. Don't be afraid to get rid of a sentence, paragraph, or even the chunk of dialogue that slows the pace of your story. I know that some of us are hesitant to do that, but it's essential if you want to give your novel a chance. The best way to develop an objective eye is to read. Read lots, read everything, and learn to be critical in order to learn the rhythms, and flow of narrative in good fiction. Join a critique group, this is by far the most important thing you will ever do as writer. I know the process of having someone read your work and tear it apart is frightening and can have quite the affect on your ego. But I promise you, the effects is temporary. Receiving critiques can sharpen your objective vision like few things will. Look for a critique group that is honest, constructive, and supportive.

No matter what stage your in or how far into your novel you are, the rewriting never ends. I write a chapter and reread and revise it several times before I send it off to my critique group. It's never perfect. When the feedback comes back, I consider everyone’s opinions and the few changes I feel need should be made. Every writer has a process or routine if you will, some write chapter to chapter and revise. Others write maybe half their novel and revise and other doesn’t touch a thing until they write the words "The End". The point is do whatever works for you, but know that most of your time will be spent rewriting.

  

When do you do rewrites? Are you one those writers that absolutely loath it?