January 20th, 2009
I want to apologize for my lack of consistency and punctuality of late. I could blame several things — the weather being a downer, NaNo throwing off my rhythm, work leaving me exhausted — but the bottom line is this: I stopped wanting it.
It happens. We set our sights on a goal, work diligently toward it, and then things start to get tough. Sometimes we push back and do amazing things, but sometimes we let ourselves get overwhelmed and curl into a ball and start whimpering and shrieking. In those moments of weakness, the goal seems unattainable, the effort wasted, and lethargy the ideal state of mind. It happens.
So today I am resolving to quit crying about it and get moving again. I have a blog to update, a novel to revise, and two short stories that need attention so I can send them off into the world to make papa rich entertain people. That stuff isn’t going to do itself while I sit on the couch and get lazier.
I’d like to say that I’ll be back to daily updates, but I’m not sure I can swing that without breaking my brain. I’ve recently acquired a few new goals (they weren’t resolutions for the new year or anything that fragile: they all originated back in November when I was too busy with NaNo to actually pursue them). I now exercise no fewer than three times a week and I’m dedicating myself to learning C#. My options are either A) blog less, or B) stop writing fiction altogether. I’m going with A for the time being, until I get into a groove that allows me to get more done with less freaking out about it.
In short: I’m back.
December 13th, 2008
I’ve been all sniffly and sneezy tonight due to some unknown allergen in the air, so I’m going to pretend like that’s the reason I’m not writing right now. Yup. That’s my story. We have groceries now, anyway.
That’s not to say I’m without ideas. We recently put curtains up, which is forming the basis for another Aery, Destroyer tale. Ever had a cat? You know what I’m talking about.
I have hit a wall with my story. Well, more of a half-wall, really. I can put plants, pictures, and Christmas cards on it. The trick I learned from Writing Excuses was, “When things start to feel slow, make the bad guys kick the door in.” That is surprisingly good advice and has worked pretty well thus far. Thing is, I just used it, and they’re still dealing with the bad guys. I guess the answer is more bad guys? That would certainly increase the “OMG” factor. When I last left my heroes, the tide was starting to turn in their favor. I’ll turn it back and see what happens.
Do you guys have any fun tricks you use to keep things moving?
In other news, I read a novel. Sadly, it has been a pretty long time since I’ve done that (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows). At the risk of massive embarassment, I confess that I read (and enjoyed!) Twilight. I would have picked up New Moon if it had been in stock at Wal Mart tonight. Yikes. A coworker told me I’m going to transform into a thirteen year old girl. My response? “If that’s the key to immortality…”
I also cracked open a short story collection called Legends and read the story that Stephen King contributed (it’s set before his Dark Tower series). I enjoyed it, and now I want to reread books 1-4 and finish up the series.
I also want to borrow the Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles from my sister and read those. The Twilight movie really burned vampires in my brain. Wait, did I just admit to reading the book and seeing the movie? Seeing the movie twice? What?
Time to go! My lit professors would be so ashamed.
October 13th, 2008
Two consecutive missed updates (I’m counting today, since this isn’t a real update). Wow. I wish I had legitimate excuses for that, but it’s mostly just whining and distraction.
New goal: Make time for writing on the weekends so it’s easier to get back in the saddle on Monday.
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