Don’t be a Loner: My cure for Writer’s Block

 

There have been times when I’ve been working on one of my manuscripts and I just can’t seem to produce ten coherent words.  Yep – that dreaded writer’s block!

Writer’s block used to panic me.  What if I never get any more ideas?  What if my writing ability has dried up?  I’m sure you’ve all been there at some time or other.

For the most part, writing is a solitary activity, unless you happen to be collaborating with another writer on a project.  But let’s face it, most of a writer’s working time is spent alone.

All that alone time is great when your creative juices are flowing but it can become pretty debilitating when the words stop coming.  Yes, you can get up and move around.  You can check your email, make a snack, phone a friend or do a million other things to get you back on track.  None of these have ever worked for me.  All it does it take me further away from figuring out how to get back to writing.

But, if I talk to another writer, whether in an email from my online critique group, or in person with another local writer, it doesn’t take long before I’m excited to get back to one of my projects. 

Just the other day, I opened up the file for my second suspense novel and realized that I’ve hit a brick wall.  I haven’t been able to spend as much time working on it these past few months and the entire story has just stalled.  I really need to finish it and submit it to my publisher by summer. 

Then, yesterday, I had a great conversation with an author I know who is on her fifth revision of her first novel.  A ten minute conversation and I could hardly wait to get home and get writing.  Just ten minutes and my writer’s battery recharged.

This isn’t the first time that connecting with another writer has inspired me.  I cherish my online critique group.  Every time I feel sidetracked or wonder if I’ll ever write another intelligent word, I just need to interact with these writers for a bit and wham – writer’s block gone!

And it usually isn’t a conversation about me, my writing or even writer’s block that gets me going again.  It could be an email that one of the group just got picked up by an agent.  Perhaps it’s a fabulous chapter, written by someone in the group, that I have to critique.  It could even be the mention of a new contest or opportunity that might be of interest to someone in the group.

All I know is that the quickest way for me to get out of my own writer’s block is to connect with another writer.

How do you handle your periods of writer’s block?

Writing and Competitive Sports

 

The other morning, reading through several popular writing ezines, I got somewhat caught up in  the guidelines for many upcoming writing contests, which got me to thinking about writing in a new way.

As writers, we are constantly competing for our chance to be published – our “win”, so to speak.  Winning a contest is somewhat like winning a sporting championship, isn’t it? 

Sports team coaches drill their players on skills and techniques that will ultimately make them stronger, better players and therefore, a more successful team.  Writers hone their skills and techniques in order to become better wordsmiths who can produce stronger, more saleable manuscripts.

For both, the ultimate prize is the win!

Writers have to compete with one another all the time for everything from pieces in magazines and newspapers to contracts with agents and publishers.  To me, winning an acceptance for publication is akin to winning a sports championship.  Exhilarating and satisfying.

To succeed, both the team sport player and the writer do several things:

1.      Make their activity a priority
2.      Constantly work on improving their skills and techniques
3.      Seek out opportunities for learning new things
4.      Enter competitions
5.      Look to mentors for coaching and critiquing
6.      Expect nothing less than their best

I was never very good at competitive sports.  I think I’m doing much better as a writer.

Do you treat your writing like a competitive sport? 

Are you doing everything you can to be the best you can be?

Every Writer Should Have a Web Presence

 

It’s common knowledge that in this high tech computer age, every writer should have a web presence. 

Don’t know how?

There are some very easy (and free) ways to get page online:

1.      Start a writing blog  (I recommend WordPress) 

2.      Make a separate Facebook Page as your “writing” page or even a separate page for each of”
          your books if you have published books to your credit

3.      Get a twitter account.  Follow other writers and publishers.  Tweet regularly to develop a
          following.

4.      Have an actual writer’s page under your name.  (I am lucky enough to own a business that
          has a website so I just created a page titled JACQUELINE MCMAHON and have my writing
          credits etc. online there.  My business already pays for the site hosting so there’s no
          additional cost to me)
          http://www.slightlyoffbroadway.com/jacquelinemcmahon.htm

5.      Join other sites for writers like: 
          She writes  (www.shewrites.com)
          Jacketflap  (www.jacketflap.com)
          Redroom    (www.redroom.com)

6.      Buy your domain name and pay to have the site hosted.  (Check out this site of reviews
         before choosing a web host:  http://www.webhostingreviews.com/)

7.      Actively comment in writers’ chat rooms, on writers’ blogs and through social media.

8.      Add any book urls to the signature line in ALL emails that you send.

These are some of the more popular ways any writer can develop a web presence.  Now, what are you waiting for?  Get out there and get online.

WRITER’S BLOCK: If you’re stuck – take stock

 

Writer’s block…two words no writer wants to face.

What is writer’s block? Imagine waking up in the morning and not being able to get out of bed. Writer’s block is that crippling dread that comes over all writers at one time or another. The curser pulses. The blank page shines white and empty. No words. No ideas. Search writer’s block and you’ll find lots of blogs and articles offering advice and support. Just googling those two words presents over ten million results. Whew!

Recently, I’d been too busy with other aspects of my career and had to put my second novel away for a couple of months. Last week, excited and pumped to get back to writing, I pulled out my most recent chapters and read them over. Finally, I could continue working on my story. The first big block of writing time I had managed into my schedule added up to about ninety minutes. I was ecstatic. At least, I started out that way. But after forty-five minutes of starting the same sentence, then scribbling out the four or five words that even came to mind, I just couldn’t get going. I flipped back to the previous chapter for inspiration. Nothing. After sixty minutes, I decided that I’d put the project away until later in the week, when I had another ninety minutes blocked out.

 Later that week, I decided to try writing the next few chapters with pen and notebook. Often, I think better when I’m doing the physical writing by hand, rather than using my computer. Again, I refreshed my memory on where I was in the story and set out to pen the first sentence of the next chapter. This time, I managed a paragraph before the scribbling began. Was I being too picky and editing too soon?

 Nope. It’s pretty hard to edit a rambling bunch of nothing.

This time, I was not going to let this sudden case of writer’s block eat away my precious writing time so instead, I pulled out my planner notebook and started reading my character studies. I looked over the diagrams of some of my settings, tweaking things here and there. I followed my plot points, checking off those I’d already covered, adding some new twists and even questioning some of them. Then, I penned three different endings with pros and cons for each.

I may not have added more chapters to my book, but I did take stock of what I’ve done so far and what I hope to accomplish with the remaining chapters. Having this deeper understanding of the many aspects of this novel seems to have done the trick. I now have the next four chapters plotted out in rough points. I know I’ll be able to write them this weekend when I have my next block of writing time.

Writer’s block doesn’t feel good. Writer’s block can leave you wondering if you’ve run out of steam. Don’t let writer’s block stop you from finishing your next book. If you’re stuck – take stock.

Reviews of WHEN LOVE WON’T DIE

I’m looking for reviews of my adult suspense novel, “When Love Won’t Die”. If you’ve already read the book, please post a short review either in my comments section OR at Amazon.com on my book page: http://www.amazon.com/When-Love-Wont-Die-ebook/dp/B004AYD6YE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330989772&sr=8-1

Writer’s Digest article on Creating Suspense in Fiction

Writer’s Digest article on Creating Suspense in Fiction.

Writer’s Digest article on Creating Suspense in Fiction

Writer’s Digest offers great advice on all aspects of being a writer and their website has lots of free information.  I just found this excellent article on Creating Suspense in Fiction and wanted to share it with all my readers.  I especially enjoyed the section about withholding information.  I enjoyed using that technique to some degree in my first suspense nove, “When Love Won’t Die”  http://www.amazon.com/When-Love-Wont-Die-ebook/dp/B004AYD6YE

Check out this excellent article:  http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/5-simple-steps-on-creating-suspense-in-fiction?et_mid=540060&rid=2995854

 

Writing a Novel: Outline or Not?

 

Yesterday I finally had the pleasure of getting back to work on my second suspense novel, a sequel to my first book, “When Love Won’t Die”. It’s been quite a while since I looked at the project as a whole, rather than tweaking a couple of chapters to submit to my critique group.

I learned a lot from writing the first novel. This time, I had a general set of plot points and a series of events already in mind before I began Chapter One. I already knew my characters quite well as most of them made an appearance in the first book.

But this time, I decided to outline each prospective chapter before actually writing the entire story. This has certainly come in handy since I had to take a considerable hiatus from my indepth work on this project and the chapter by chapter outlines I have recorded in a notebook now remind me not only of the story’s direction but also how I want to interweave certain characters’ circumstances together and also the layers of sub-plots I intend to use in the sequel.

I’ve never really had a big problem just starting a story and letting it unfold as I write it but I believe that by doing the task of outlining first, every aspect of this second book will become stronger because I have taken the time to really think things through first. That doesn’t mean I’ll be rigid and unwilling to change things from my outline. It just means that I have a clearer direction this time.

Suspense novels need to have a build-up of tension to keep the reader interested, but more than that, each incidence must evolve out of something else and by doing an outline, I believe that the evolution in this sequel will be more believable and more exciting because of it.

Do you outline your novels? What are the Pros and Cons? Try answering this before you start work on your new book and see which side you end up on?

Heroines and Villains in suspense novels

One of the things I love most about suspense novels is the interaction between the heroine and the villain.  I love feeling the goosebumps appear when I know the villain is hiding and the heroine charges madly into the situation.  I cringe at the villain’s inner thoughts and wish I could warn the heroine somehow.

What do you think makes a good villain?

What makes a great heroine?

Here’s my list…

GREAT VILLAINS
1.    Some form of weakness that hinders them in some way
2.    A strong motivation for what they are about to do
3.    More dimension as a character than just being a villain
4.    Some small tidbit of backstory that perhaps asks for just a teensy bit of empathy

GREAT HEROINES
1.    The ability to be strong when/if necessary
2.    Not a damsel-in-distress
3.    A character who reads like someone the reader could have as a friend
4.    Someone who sets a good example as a woman
5.    A soft side

Who are your favorite heroine/villain pairs?  Two of mine are:
1.    Annie and Paul (Misery)
2.    Clarice and Hannibal (Silence of the Lambs)

Please feel free to comment.  As a writer, I’d love to know what makes readers like certain heroines and also which villains creep them out the most.

Visiting the classroom as a Guest Author

I was invited to speak to two classes of children (included 4th, 5th and 6th grade students) for literacy week.  The principal invited local published authors to speak to the kids about what it’s like to be a writer.

I’ve never enjoyed giving a speech.  The thought of being up there alone, and as myself, doesn’t paint a very interesting picture in my mind.  Let me recite a monologue as a fabulous literary character from a great work of fiction, and that excites me.

So how was I going to interest these young minds in two areas that many admitted they didn’t really enjoy doing:  reading and writing.

Instead of giving a speech and trying to figure out how to make them listen to me ramble on about my thoughts on being a writer, I turned the tables to them and started my presentation by asking them some questions:

1.    What makes a book interesting enough for you to want to read it?

2.    What types of characters do you enjoy?

3.    What kinds of stories interest you?

4.    What turns you off in a book?

The enthusiastic hand waving instantly got us talking.  Even those kids who said they really didn’t like to read much had comments on what types of stories they would prefer if they did have to read a book.

Next, I presented them with this question:

Have you ever read a story and wished you could have changed it?

This engaged even more enthusiasm as student after student offered their imaginative ways to improve upon stories they’d read.  They got excited when I told them that being a writer meant that they could make the story be whatever they wanted.  The characters would be designed by their imaginations.  Eager hands raised and creative ideas flowed as students, guest writer and teacher all engaged in the excitement of the writing process.

Finally, I offered a way to prompt them on starting a story.  I asked them all to close their eyes and ask themselves this question…What if? 

What if when I went to sleep tonight…
What if my lunch box was filled with…
What if the teacher could…
What if the stairs at school turned into jello…
What if I could draw something and it would come to life and…

Now the students were really excited and wanted to write their own *what if* story.

I also showed them some of the magazines, anthologies and market books I’ve had work published in and talked to them a little about what it takes to write an entire book and the process required to get it published.  They seemed most impressed with the fact that something that they could create could actually earn them some money as a career someday.

I hope that my visit helped convince many of them to enter the writing contest being held in our city next month.  I do know that I definitely helped them get a jump-start on tapping into their own creative ideas.

But the best part of the visit was watching them get excited about reading and writing. 

As a writer, what do you do to inspire those around you?

Free Ezines for Writers

 

One of the things I most enjoy about checking my email every day is finding a copy of one of the many *free* ezines that I subscribe to in my inbox.  It’s amazing how much free info. is there for the taking, offered up by some of today’s most respected individuals in the business. 

I’d like to share some of my favorites with my readers.  Most simply require a sign-up with your email address and that’s it.  No spamming…just access to great information.  Enjoy!  

http://www.fundsforwriters.com/FFWnewsletters.htm

http://www.writersweekly.com

http://www.writersdigest.com/subscribe/free-weekly-newsletter

http://www.writersmarket.com   (fill in sign-up box for FREE newsletter)

http://www.write4kids.com   (ezine link at very bottom of webpage)

http://www.writing-world.com/newsletter/index.shtml

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freebiesforwriters/

I would have to say that the first four links are my all-time favorites, but any of the above ezines can provide excellent insight into this biz we call writing.

Sometimes you need to Step Away to Recharge

December can be a tricky month for anyone who celebrates the holidays.  There are gifts to buy, baking to do, cleaning for company and extra social events to attend.  When’s a writer supposed to find time to write?

I’ve been beating myself up about not getting any writing done since Nano ended on November 30th.  But as it turns out, it really wasn’t a bad thing after all.  I only wish I hadn’t allowed myself to stress out about it so much!

Now that the Christmas tree and decorations are all back in storage in the basement and the last remnants of holiday treats have been eaten, I find myself experiencing a new-found energy and creativity.  I’m reading writing blogs, ezines and books.  I’m plotting and planning.  But most of all – I’m writing again.

As it turns out, sometimes you need to step away to Recharge.

How did you fare as a writer celebrating the holidays?  Did you stay on track, or let things fall a bit by the wayside like I did?

January 10, 2012 – recharged and ready for writing!

Nanowrimo aftermath

 

Well it’s been nearly a week since Nanowrimo (the national novel writing month) ended and participation in the event has given many writers a rough draft of a new book or at least several thousand words toward such a project.

Did I win by writing 50,000 words?  Nope!  But I still won by participating.

Nanowrimo forced me to get back to working on my sequel suspense novel and because of the discipline of having to write something every day in November, I now have some 17,000 more words added to my book and a much clearer understanding of not only my ending, but also the areas I will now revise and rewrite to make the book its best.

Did I participate in Nano this year in hopes of finally winning with 50,000?  A part of me would have liked to have achieved such a lofty goal.

Am I disappointed that I didn’t cross the perverbial finish line so to speak?  Absolutely not!

All writers know that writing is a solitary job.  Having the discipline to stick with a long project like a book manuscript requires isolation from others (both online and off) and a real commitment to sitting down and fleshing out the story.  With all of life’s distractions, getting ample time to finish such a project can be extremely difficult.  Nanowrimo provides just the push that I need, especially at a time of year when life is busier with the impending holiday celebrations.

Thanks Nanowrimo for another great year!  You kick-started my first novel which definitely helped me on the road to having it published.  Hopefully, my sequel won’t be far behind.

Kindlegraph – how to personalize your ebook

 

My publisher posted this information a while back and I finally had the chance to check it out.

If you have an ebook and want to be able to autograph it for your readers, you can do just that if your book is offered on Amazon. It’s called a Kindlegraph.

Here’s the link to my book, “When Love Won’t Die”:
http://kindlegraph.com/authors/dramaquill

To find out more about Kindlegraph, check out this link:
http://kindlegraph.com/about

Note:  Right now, this autograph only works if you have a Kindle e-reader.

Nanowrimo…And we’re off

 

November is Nanowrimo month – a time where published and aspiring novelists vow to write approximately 1600 words/day for the entire month of November.

What’s the payoff?

Fifty-thousand words in a month’s time. This can be a great start to a new novel or the chance to complete a book that’s already been started.

I fell a little short of my goals yesterday with 1,163 words on my suspense novel, Amorous Obsession, but I did a lot of planning/plotting so I’m still happy with my progress.

And…I also wrote a few more pages on my pirate musical (sadly they don’t count in my Nano total LOL)

To participate in all the action:
http://www.nanowrimo.org

Happy writing!