The Writer's Life

Putting the finishing touches to my regency novella ebook, Passionate Persuasions, and hope to hit the submit button this coming weekend.  

Scary stuff.  It's one thing to write, but it's another thing all together different to revise, edit, revise again . . . 

You cry, 

You tear your hair out because somewhere in the middle of all this creativity you changed the hero's name but didn't carry it throughout the entire story,

You changed the heroine's hair color, which now clashes with everything she wears,

You stopped writing for a few weeks and when you return, the story picks up in a different landscape, a different season, a different town . . .  where the heck are we?

And the list goes on. And that doesn't include any grammatical corrections, sentence structure, chapter endings . . . 

So why does one write?  Why torture oneself?

Here's the secret:  because it ultimately is fun, enticing, magical.  You get to create a whole world all your own (until you publish, that is) and live in this world forever.  Well, not forever but long enough to feel that your characters are part of the family.  You know their quirks, their passions, their problems, just like children.

Ah, there's the rub -- just like children.  Yes, they do tend to do what they want; they often do not do what you want them to do, and then once in a great while, they turn the tables on you and do something not in the script, thus forcing you to revise again.

And so it goes.

It's a misery.  It's a passion.  It's an enigma.  

But ask me if I'll continue writing, and I'll say yes, yes, and yes again -- until I'm halfway through the next editing/revising process on that story and the cycle comes round once again!

 

Creative Block and Writing

Creative block.  Ugh.  There's no excuse but when it hits, it hits hard.  The blank page stares back at you.  The white, glaring computer screen flashes in your face, mocking your lack of inspiration, increasing your perspiration.

Some writers advise to 'just keep on writing!'  Write anything, any piece of drivel that falls onto the page or the screen, as long as you continue to write.  My brain comprehends that, but my heart just feels too weary to continue the battle.

That's what struck me about the Agatha Christie quote you see above.  Inspiration can come at the oddest times and in the oddest places -- doing dishes, digging in the garden, waiting on line at the grocery store.  It comes in waves or it can dribble in like a slow leak.  

The thing is to be ready for it.  Some artists sketch on napkins; some writers scribble a few indiscernible notes on the back of a receipt.  But here's the thing:  I think the physical act of writing, whether it be with a pen or pencil, crayon or eyeliner pen, makes the mind retain the essence of the inspiration.  The kinetic movement of hand and instrument at the time of your flash makes the body and the mind remember more effectively.

So, yes, many of us dream of our "ideal" writing space -- perfect desk, perfect pen or laptop, perfect chair and cup of tea or java, perfect view (god, isn't this an awesome spot to write?) . . .
 

. . . but in the end it's simply capturing those flashes of inspiration on slips of paper and then plopping one's butt in the chair and writing.  When hitting those raw spots that are difficult to get through, move to long-hand writing.  Again, the physical act may prompt an even greater flow of thoughts and ideas, characterizations and plotting.  If editing and revising, that is a different process all together -- and I'll write more on that in a few days.  

What do you do to move through a creative block?

Share your tips with the rest of us!