Writer's Block {That I Do Not Have}

Sorry for the radio silence last week. And the week before. It's been a crazy, sleep-deprived two weeks. But life is finally settling down.

News?

• An agent to whom I had sent a partial requested a full. And wrote back quickly after I sent it to her. And inquired as to my writing experience. And wrote back quickly after I sent that. She seems quite friendly, and I really, really like her. Needless to say, I'm on pins and needles waiting to hear back. {Have I been Twitter-stalking? Maybe. Just a little. Guess there's a first time for everything.}
•  I've decided that I must, no excuses, finish a manuscript draft by the end of August, when school starts. I need writer's block off my mind going into college. {Not that I, um, have writer's block...}
• I've been returning to a dystopian that's been in my head since before dystopian was a genre, from the days when Margaret Peterson Haddix was the only bleak, totalitarian-government author you were going to find in the kid's section. My dystopian is not working. I have no villain, not one with a face, anyway.
• So I started work on another dystopian. An ice-skating one. {As we all know, ice-skating anything is fantastic.}
• Although I'm actually supposed to be working on my TWT sequel. Or the contemporary that already has 20K words.
• But enough about the writer's block that I do not have! I *drumroll please* have discovered the Notepad app for Kindle! For $0.99, I can make notes of up to 3000 characters {which is a lot, as far as notes go} and save the things as .rtf files to transfer to my computer. {I haven't done that yet; will let you know how it goes when I do.} Which basically means...I can write when I don't have my computer. Like when my brother has my computer. Or when I'm in the bathroom. {Yeah, whatever, you know that's where you get your best ideas.} Or when said computer is off. Because I know that turning it on also turns on the time-suck that is email/Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/blogsblogsblogs. Anyway...it's a little sad because my lovely Composition notebook has lost it's primo spot in my purse. But it's nice because my purse just got way smaller. :)

Pen and Ink

So I got the video working on yesterday's post after realizing, late at night, that it wasn't working. Alas. I liked that post, but it made no sense without the video.

Yesterday I found myself at the library without my laptop. {Which explains why I didn't notice that the video didn't work on my post until late.} I had my book on physics, which I am enjoying, and my composition notebook, and my pen.

I also had eight loaned novels waiting for me at home, which meant that browsing and checking out any fiction was absolutely forbidden.

I can only read about physics for so long. Nothing against physics. I love physics, especially the chapter on sound. But goodness gracious, I can't read about it for two hours. So I found a table, took out my composition notebook and pen, and decided to work something out for the TWT sequel.

It worked. Pen and ink works! There is something about the quiet, about the simplicity, the absence of other options. There is no wi-fi, no Facebook, no Pinterest, no email {that simply must be checked because of possible incoming requests from agents, yes}, no minesweeper. Just paper with blue lines. Just a pen. Just a story, just space for words, and words alone.

It was beautiful. I got some stuff figured out plot-wise, but even more important, I started enjoying writing again. It's been a while. But there is nothing as romantic as pen and paper to make you fall in love with story again.

The Return of the Muse

Last Thursday, the muse returned. You know, that epic little piece of epic awesomeness that makes you excited about your story again. It whispers, Hey, that was pretty good. That was easy. You can do this! And here's a dozen or so little plot assistances that may just help you out. :)

And since the blogging world is all about being honest, I figured I'd be honest about the return of the muse.

I prayed. Which is to say, I talked to Jesus about it.

Serious. I was in the tree house that morning talking to Jesus {because tree houses are just amazing...and the morning is about the only time you can go outside comfortably in TX} and was like, "I really need help with my writing. Seriously. I'm dying." I had been working hard and powering through, but, well, you know that feeling where you're working really hard but you're pretty sure it sucks and you can't do anything about it? That was me. And I was like, "Some help would be really, really nice." :D

I wrote for over three hours that day and had the writing-energy {a different kind of energy altogether} to go even longer. It was fun. I finished a difficult scene. I had fun while I did it. It was one of those moments where you fall in love with writing all over again. You know, the moment where you're like, "Oh, this is why I do this. I actually like this."

So I just thought I'd add Jesus to the list of Ways to Encourage the Muse. You wouldn't think He'd be on that list, but, you know, He's kinda awesome that way. If there's a good list to be on, He's usually on it. :) Try it.

What's the most unusual way you've ever encouraged the muse?

Share the Love IV

For your Friday delight, I give you the best of my blog-reading week. Feel free to pick one you haven't read!

Oh, oh, oh! I have fifty followers! Just woke up to them this morning after Jacob Wonderbar broke blogger. *squee* All fifty of you make my life so happy! :)


Like It Is: STEALING TIME TO MAKE A SCHEDULE, by Tahereh Mafi, author of Shatter Me

How Not To Tell Too Much: Tip #8 - Self-Editing for Commentary and Life is an Analogy: The Two-Faced Friend by blogger Aimee L. Slater

Marketing: What Works: Promo for Ebooks, by Joe Konrath, author of the Jack Daniels thrillers

Writer's Block: Overcoming Writer's Block, by agented author Sara B. Larson

Technology: Scrivener (Mac OS X), by blogger Liz Pezzuto

She Says It Better: We Have the Mind of Christ, by Abigail Hartman, author of The Soldier's Cross
 
Encouragement: ON FEELING INADEQUATE, by Tahereh Mafi, author of Shatter Me

Scientific Analysi & Cute Penguins

Yes, we're still on the writer's block topic, how did you guess?

The weekend was good. I didn't force myself to write, just tried to scribble down whatever came. Unfortunately, I'm in the midst of re-reading the Alex Rider series, and while I'm getting a good lesson in pacing...Jenn is quickly turning from haunted heroine to bad-a super spy. (I even wrote a scene where her pursuer ended up getting hit by a train. Seriously? That's definitely Alex, but it's definitely not Jenn. Yep, we put that one in the deleted scenes folder.)

But I think I got some good stuff. Kind of. I'm having to delete some of my favorite characters, which is sad. They're presence is just not needed in the current plot anymore. Le sigh. But I have a new character. He's dark and tall and handsome and I'm not sure how he ended up here because another love interest I do not need. At all. But he's almost making up for having to delete the others.

Though I still need a motive for a sixteen-year-old girl to kill an eighteen-year-old guy. Something not quite accidental, but still understandable, though not exactly justifiable. That sort of thing. Should be easy, right? :P (I think I may have finally nailed it down, but if you have any thoughts on the matter, feel free to share.)

And that's...all I have for today. I feel that I should leave you with something besides my complaining scientific analysis of the writing process, so, um, here's a cute video of a baby penguin.

Gritted Teeth and Iron Resolve

Yesterday we established that I had writer's block. Or something like that.

Something akin to smacking one's face into this:

This has never happened to me before.

Let me rephrase: This has never happened to me before when I cared.

I've begun 81* stories (not including fanfics) since the age of 11. Yes, I counted them. No, I haven't been procrastinating. Avoiding my WiP? Why would you think that?

Of those 81, I've finished a resounding 4. What happened to the rest? I quit, due to disinterest...or lack of plot. Not really lack of plot, just poor plotting. Just that horrible moment when you arrive somewhere and realize that how you got there really wouldn't work in real life, wouldn't work at all, and that anywhere you go from there is going to be tainted. I used to quit those and start new ones, because I'm quite ADD when it comes to sticking to stories anyway.

But now I'm on a quest not just to write stories but for them to be published. And to be published, you need plot. Plot that works. I can't not care anymore.

Set this one aside and start afresh? I could, but I won't, for two reasons:

1. This is a hurdle I must jump. Avoiding it now just means delaying the inevitable.
2. I believe in this story. I love it like I've loved few others. I believe that it's good, a rare thought for me, to believe that something I've created is good.

There comes a moment when one must decide to go on or go home. For me, this is that moment. I have found a hole in my skills, a tear that must be patched. I can't pretend like it's not there if I want to keep getting better. It must be faced, head-on, with gritted teeth and iron resolve.

What about you? Tell me about your perseverance. It's okay to say it was hard. :)

* give or take

What Happened Last Thursday

What happened last Thursday:

• Page 72/72 - Why did that character ever have an alias? I want to change that...
• Page 68 - If I fix this discovery of the alias, I have to figure out why she didn't meet him while she was at his house.
• Page 35: Why didn't she meet him while she was at his house? Why didn't she suspect something?
• Page 25: Wait, if he was married to her, then she was their daughter, and Jake knew...
• Page 15: Jake knew? Jake didn't know. Jake didn't know what? No, no, no, no...

I think...My plot imploded.

All weekend, my family has had to put with with this --->


Say hello to the stereotypical, clawing her hair out, emo, angsty, depressed, the-flow-of-my-plot-defines-my-well-being...writer.

I really do have random pieces of notebook paper scattered across my bedroom office. As well as several printed plotting failures outlines. My outline count has gone from two to six in the past few days.

I've got a bad feeling about this...

Help? Any help at all?

Cinderella, Cinderella!

I wouldn't be an authoress without my own version of Cinderella.

(See: Donna Jo Napoli's Bound, Diane Stanley's Bella At Midnight, Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted, Margaret Peterson Haddix's Just Ella...just to name a few)

I found mine two days ago. I was bored...

(Yes, I know I'm supposed to be working on Ivolet. I...er...um...don't really have a good excuse. Writer's block? Haha, yes! Can't argue with the writer's block answer!)

...and perusing my plethora of previously written parts of stories (alliteration!) when I found what I'd entitled, "Cinderella, Possibly."

The 'possibly' is in there because it began as a fantasy that started to take on certain characteristics that would fit in a Cinderella novel. And then I got an idea, a bit of a twist that I'd never seen in a Cinderella novel before, and then the summary just...happened.

(Note to self: Summaries are really nice, especially when you come back 2.5 years later!)

Since I was bored, I did some work on it then. It opened with the normal Cinderella story - wedding, mean step-sisters, maid, reclusive father. I was pretty happy with the voice (first-person); she's a quiet person, but she's got a snarky edge when she narrates. Who knew?

I'm trying to get my mind off of it. As I am this other dystopian that I haven't even touched since April 2006. (Yes, 2006.) Why, oh, why?! Dear muses, thanks, but no thanks! I have a story to work on! *sigh*

Do any of you struggle with this...writing ADD? I don't know what else to call it. Let me know I'm not alone, please!

Or, if you don't have writing ADD and don't want me to feel alone, tell me your favorite Cinderella adaption. Why did you like it? What made it different?

1000 Words = Fist Pump

Yesterday, I forbade myself to write a blog post until I wrote 2000 words. I only wrote 1000, which was 1000 more than I've written in the past two weeks, which is why you're not receiving this post at 6:00 AM. (You really didn't think I got up that early. Did you? Because...I really don't. Thank you, Blogger, for scheduled posts.)

However, those 1000 words broke the writer's block I didn't know I had. I thought I just didn't have time (liar, liar, pants on fire), and I thought I just needed more than 15 minutes to settle into the story. Actually, I needed more than 15 minutes, but not to settle in. I had to inspect, magnify, peruse, and generally exhaust my mind in figuring out how things would fit together.

I didn't think it could be done. I was already playing around with a suggestion of Katie Mills (aka Creepy Query Girl) from her comment on one of my "the characters won't do what I want!" blog posts. (It's here.) And yesterday, some things just fell into place and I was like, "YES!" #fistpump (Yeah, I'm slowly learning Twitter-speak.)

It was amazing. Life was good again. The sun came out. (Not really. It's been raining for three days. But figuratively speaking.)

I was so excited that I wrote it in PENCIL on REAL PAPER this paragraph of why so-and-so is doing what etc.. etc... etc... (reminisce The King and I). And THEN I WROTE 1000 WORDS (...not on real paper).

So, yesterday was a glorious happy day for me, even if there was no blog post to wake you up in the morning.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: And many thanks to Katie Mills (aka Creepy Query Girl), who had no obligation to do the work of a critique group, but saved me from writer's block regardless.

I never realized how long of a word 'acknowledgments' was.