Friday, June 27, 2014

Recent Writing Frustrations

As most of you know, I like to work on a lot of projects at once. And while I normally have seven or eight novels going at a time (on average) I usually have two that I focus on. Right now I'm working on editing a chapter book titled The Adventure That Started With Nuts about a talking squirrel and his best friend, who's a talking chipmunk. I'm also working on a YA contemporary, Beneath the Moon and Stars.

But lately, I've been feeling stuck. I've had a chronic case of writer's block whenever I sit down to work on BTMAS, and honestly, I'm bored by edits for my squirrel story. But while that's all extremely frustrating, the result of this writer's block/boredom is good material for a blog post. ;)

When I'm stuck, you can find me ranting to my BFF via text or e-mail chat about how my characters won't cooperate. For example, here's a snippet of our latest conversation:

Me: Blah. Blah blah blah blah blah. I'm so stuck with my story. :P I seriously went on a two page tangent about makeup because I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO.

Anything inspiring? :P I'll take quotes, pictures, anything. (Or distractions? Funny sibling stories? What are you reading right now?)

Her:


Me: LOL XD

Lane's stuck at his mother's stupid New Year's Eve party and REFUSES TO MOVE.

I hate it when my characters refuse to cooperate. -_-

And even worse, the thing that's going to happen RIGHT AFTER this party is so exciting!!! :P

Her: Right after? Oh man, you gotta get him to move.

Me: XD I'm trying.

I then sent her some pictures showing everything I'd done to get this character (Lane) to move, none of which were working:

Banging my head against the keyboard

Yelling at my characters

Yelling at my characters some more


When I'm bored, you can find me putting off the next chapter, the next scene, in the hopes that a grand idea will just pop into my head without trying. I often use the, "waiting for inspiration to strike" excuse so I don't feel guilty about playing video games, checking my e-mail/Twitter, or watching the next episode of "Sherlock."

With The Adventure That Started With Nuts, I sat down, fully intending to get at least three chapters edited, and ended up getting sidetracked:

So that's why I've been up to these past few days.

What are some of your biggest writing frustrations? Leave a comment! (And don't forget to check out the giveaway below!)

9 comments:

Lydia said...

I could never write two pages about makeup. It would get as far as "You know that stuff you put on your face?" and then I'd be stuck.

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh! You are too funny! Never lose your sense of humor. This will be great fodder for the book you write for aspiring authors. Can we see the letter??

Anonymous said...

Ahaha, I've been a very frustrated writer lately too! I can't decide whether to include flashbacks, or how many of them, or how long they should be, or where they should be placed in the main story.

I "solve" this problem by ignoring it and getting distracted by the Internet... haha!

Anonymous said...

Wow! 7-8 novels is a lot to be working on at one time! I would never be able to juggle that many projects. Right now I'm working on the first draft of my first novel, so I guess my biggest frustration is finding out how to churn out more words in one piece than I ever have before.

The Magic Violinist said...

@Lydia I never thought I would've been able to, either. :P But you'd be surprised how long I can ramble on about something I'm clueless about. I'm sure I sounded like an idiot writing it, but I was just thrilled to have written something!

@seventytwofishes Ha ha, I'm planning on posting the letter sometime soon. ;) Very soon . . .

@nevillegirl Ah, yes. Flashbacks are EVIL. Every time I use them (or don't) I see advice saying that I should do the opposite!

@Ana I know, it's a lot. XD Hence why I never get anything finished . . .

Anonymous said...

You are an incredible inspiration. I've been blogging and tweeting for a couple of months but there are times it just seems like I am thinking, "duh, what do I do with this social media stuff." Then the blessed ones {like me} come across others like you. After reading some of your posts, I declare you are as much a professional as anybody out there. Keep up the good work and I look fwd to keeping in touch with you. Find me @alexiastevens01.
Take Care. Alexia

The Magic Violinist said...

@Alexia Oh my gosh, thank you so much!!! :) Your comment made my day. I'm so glad you like my blog! I'll definitely find you on Twitter.

Boquinha said...

HOW did I not comment on this yet?!? I was cracking up when I first read it! And I know that Sherri and I texted back and forth about it. HILARIOUS. I love posts like this. Thank you for sharing!

The Magic Violinist said...

@Boquinha He he, no problem. ;) Glad you liked it!