Category: reasons I’m not writing

Reasons I’m Not Writing (Today)

In no particular order:

  1.  I’m tired.
  2. I have too many other things that have to be done.
  3. I have homework.
  4. I have a 4-day weekend, so I still have 2 writing days available.
  5. I have two essays to write (So, some writing).
  6. I can’t concentrate for longer than 5 minutes at a time.
  7. I’m a horrible procrastinator.
  8. I’m also an optimist (As in “I totally have plenty of time to get everything done.”  I don’t, actually.)
  9. I’d rather take a nap. (Done.)
  10. I need an outline and some worldbuilding done before I write anything else.

Is It Nap Time?

I swear, lately, my brain just seems like it’s shut down.  I’m not even asking very much of it mentally, and it’s still like “Nope.  I’m done.”  The basic desire is for sleep.  Not mental exertion.  This is not a positive thing when classes start in just under two weeks.I barely watch TV, so that isn’t distracting me. Making myself read is even a challenge, sometimes.

Any suggestions for combating a mental slump?

Admission of Guilt

Okay. I admit it:  I’m not happy with Witches because it’s written in third-person POV, not first-person (which is what I’ve been writing in for years now).  I admit it.  Happy?  It actually doesn’t make me happy (and yet it does. Both at the same time. I may have some identity issues.).  Changing third-person to first-person is not the hardest thing I can imagine revision-wise. (I’m not saying it’s easy, just “not the hardest”.) However…doing alternating first-person view points well (and clearly) can be tricky. And I need about six POV characters to tell this story fully.

Six.

That’s a lot of character voices to keep straight. Not to mention, formatting the manuscript so as not to confuse readers. Because, like juggling six viewpoint characters isn’t enough, they’re also going to be in different countries, which will be need-to-know info. That won’t be difficult at all.

Ha. Ha.

To be fair, most of the book will be in Kahleena’s or Bali’s POV, a good chunk will be in either Casimir’s or Julien’s POV, and the rest will be in Siobhan’s and Eodin’s. So, I need to make it clear at the beginning of each chapter where we are and whose head we’re in.  I’m going to re-start this revision with that in mind and keep on keeping-on.

Suggestions are welcome.

Searching for Words Beyond Emotion

I haven’t done any writing or revisions in the past week. Mentally, I just wasn’t up to it. Before I experienced depression for myself, I never realized how much my emotions could affect my brain.  Does that make sense?  Okay, before depression, I never realized that I just kept plowing through, no matter my mental state.  Now however…I’m pretty susceptible to my emotions throwing me off my game.  Stress. Exhaustion. Tension.  Anger.  Not just depression. And no, I’m not depressed. But one of my patients died last week unexpectedly, someone I took care of for four years and chatted and joked with. I didn’t realize how much he lifted my spirits at 5 a.m., and I’m feeling his loss. That sadness makes it hard to focus on the words.

But I’m working on it. Words have power, after all, and strength is a positive thing.

How Writing is Like Scaling the Grand Canyon

You know what I haven’t been doing lately?  Writing. Or anything writing-related. I’d like to be able to blame it on school stuff, but that would (mostly) be a lie, soooo…..Yeah. No writing here. Instead, for the past three days, I’ve been wincing in pain every time I move. Did you know that hiking 9 miles makes you pretty darn sore?  Take my word for it:  it does. That excursion was part of my training for the Rim to Rim Grand Canyon hike planned for the end of May. I realize there is no way to actually train for scaling one of the greatest natural wonders of our country, but I have to at least put in some effort. Because I don’t want to fall off a cliff (and I’m scared of heights). And I don’t want to be so sore afterwards I’m unable to enjoy the rest of my vacation.

However, I need to treat my writing like my training:  Just. Do. It. Will it suck sometimes?  Probably. Will it be painful? At times. Is it worth it?  Definitely. Putting in the time now will make me feel so much better later.  And that’s kind of the point, isn’t it? Writing isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes it’s sweat and tears and agony (I’ve killed off characters, thank you. I’m not GRRM, but still.). But if I put in the time now, training, making it a habit, in the end, it will come much more easily, and there will be less suffering (like the guilt resulting from putting it off).

Okay, so there’s not a looming threat of falling off a cliff to keep me motivated, but a future full of not writing and being miserable as a result is pretty darn inspirational.

Renewing my (Writing) Vows

So, yeah, I’ve pretty much dropped off the radar for the past few months (Off the radar, off the planet, either way…). I’ve been busy, yes. School and work can be pretty overwhelming, definitely, but my disappearance has just as much, if not more, to do with laziness. I just haven’t felt like doing a lot of things. I want to fix that, though.  Get my sh*t together. Get back in the saddle. You know, the usual pronouncements.

This week has been spring break for me, so I’ve tried to rest a lot. With my new set of classes gearing up to start on Monday, I’ll be super busy again, but I’m not afraid to tackle a towering to-do list (Ha! I do tend to over-commit, true.). I laugh in the face of busyness! I may end up curled in a ball, whimpering, but I do have a plan. Eight more weeks of classes, then no school until mid-August. And there are so many writing projects I want to tackle this year! (Drafting, revising, polishing, all are on this list.)

I can get this accomplished. I have priorities.

Work. School. Training for my Grand Canyon Rim to Rim hike in May. Holly Lisle’s motivation class (SO needed.). Re-taking How to Think Sideways with this year’s only class. Blogging. Oh, yes, and sleep. I can juggle all of that, right? Right?!

Happiness Is…Words on Paper

You know what’s awesome?  Writing.

Do you know how long it’s been since I wrote anything besides random emails and interminable school papers?  At least three months.

Do you know how happy writing again makes me?  Extremely.

Granted, I didn’t write much.  But school started again this week, and I decided that, in addition to my piles of school work ( I feel like a fifth year at Hogwarts), I would make time for writing.  And blogging.  No exceptions.  No more procrastinating.  Just me and my characters and heaps of trouble.

And you know what?  Once I made myself start, it felt fantastic!  I’ve missed writing so much.  I can never not write this long again.  It’s unacceptable.

How else am I going to capture the magic around me, if I don’t write?  Besides, I have to keep my characters safe from the zombies.

 

Writing Inspiration: Where Do You Find It?

Or where does it find you?

Personally, Pinterest, while undoubtedly an excellent form of time-wasting, is also a wellspring of ideas.  The unending supply of pictures–of everything from colorful people to almost-unearthly places–frequently sets the wheels humming in the back of my mind. I’ll be innocently scrolling through the thread-that-never-ends, and the Muse will say “Hmm.  Hang on a sec.”

Things like this:

(Found here.)
(Found here.)

And this:

(Picture found here.)
(Picture found here.)

 

Or maybe even this:

(Image found here.)
(Image found here.)

 

Pictures like that make the Muse happy, make her imagination run wild.  So where do you find inspiration?

(I found these images via Pinterest, and did try to find out who owned them.  If they belong to you, and you want them taken down, please let me know.  I appreciate your beautiful work.)

Getting Over Feeling Guilty

So, I know I said I was going to do some writing-related work every week and post about it here to keep myself accountable, but…that just didn’t happen last week.  At first I felt guilty.  I had an entire week, why couldn’t I carve out some time for writing?  Then I thought about it:  I was busy last week.  Really busy.  It wasn’t like I did nothing last week.  I just didn’t have enough hours to fit in everything I had to do, much less the things I wanted to do.  I have valid reasons for not getting to the writing.  I may not be happy about the situation, but it is what it is, and I’m in the process of making my life more conducive to doing things I want to do, instead of merely what I have to do.

My (excellent list) of (valid) reasons I didn’t have time for writing last week:

1)  I worked an extra day at the day job.

2)  School. (And registering for summer classes, which I wasn’t planning on taking.)

3)  I started packing my apartment in preparation for moving in 3 weeks or so.  (Blech.  I HATE packing.)

4)  Pre-vacation planning and packing (I leave on Thursday.)

5)  Extra schoolwork so I don’t have to do it while on vacation.

To me, those are excellent reasons (not excuses).

I did just sign up for a webinar Thursday with Holly Lisle and Booknook.biz about e-book formatting, so I’m counting that as writing-related for next week…

Also, I took a few hours out to go see Divergent.  I haven’t read the book, but I loved the movie.  I thought it was really well-done.  Also, since my WIP (which currently stands for Work I’ve Paused) is dystopian, the movie got me thinking about the genre, which seems to have gotten big with the success of things like The Hunger Games and The Walking Dead (yes, I’m counting that here).

So, I’d really like to know:  why do you like (or dislike) dystopian stories?

It’s Not Really Procrastinating if You’re Exhausted

 

busy

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, there hasn’t been much going on around here except for the occasional book review.  That is mostly true of my life of late, too.  It’s been 9 1/2 months since my stroke, and I’m still not 100% yet.  To be fair, I may never be 100% of what I was, so I just need to adjust to my new normal.  That has been…harder…than I thought it would be.

Yes, I still work three days a week (3 days that are 11-16 hours each), on my feet in a fast-paced environment.  I love my patients, but it’s overwhelming at times.  Plus, I go to school full-time (online at Regent University now).  I’m taking some great classes, but it is a teensy bit exhausting at times.  I’m trying to start working out again (right now, “working out” means some light walking and strength training).  Writing hasn’t sorted itself completely yet.

I’m trying to blog on something like a consistent schedule (which, let’s face it, right now, that’s once a week, if I’m lucky).  I’m also trying to work my way through Holly Lisle’s Create a World Clinic to get the writing juices flowing again.  But it’s hard.  So hard, sometimes.  Some days, dragging myself out of bed is a monumental task.  On my days off, I should be able to sleep in a bit (where “sleep in” means staying asleep until after 6 a.m.).  But no.  This morning, I was awake before 4 .m.  Seriously?

But yes, that’s my goal:  one blog here a week, and I intend to have some sort of writing progress to report weekly.  And, if anyone has any sort of suggestions at all….I’m all ears.