What's On Your Mind About Your Writing?

Today I'm thinking that my writing last night felt really off. Like it's lost something. Maybe I'm trying too hard to stick to certain rules while rewriting this scene (technically, the scene is now a first draft because it's getting a complete overhaul.) Blech! I guess writing can't always be sunshine and roses.

Getting back into it tonight after work. Yay!

I've found the issues to my word count woes (underwriting issue), i tend to set up my stories like dominoes. You only need a finger flick to trigger them all to fall down. I tend to focus less on the middle.

Great thread. What's on my mind is that my WIP lacks life. It's just a bit
flat. I'm two chapters in and it's not engaging me. I've committed to writing
either 1000 words or do two hours every day, but it's like swimming in
cement. I'm writing for the sake of it, hoping that my story takes off.
I'm going to work harder on my plot. I'll keep going.

My WIP isn't as polished as I thought it was.
I have three weeks to finish a short for Clarion West App this year. Gulp.
The Query process is my least favorite part of this "attempt Writing career" thing I'm on.

Sigh.

Today I'm thinking in platitudes. It feels like the treadmill I'm on is slipping backwards while I run in place.

"If it is to be, it is up to me" and "If writing were easy, everyone would do it" -- junk like that.

Probably because studying is eating my brain and I haven't finished anything new in almost eight weeks.

I'm getting close to finishing my 4th novel, the ending is coming but I want to give it a real kick, you know? Tie all of the stuff together, finish it for proof / beta reading. Oy, this writing thing. Still got a whole more stories to write, lot left to do.
But it is fun, darn it.

I'm slightly stir crazy right now, this is because of the weather and the fact I can't seem to grab time to do any actual real writing (writing for fun instead of school) is adding to it.

I wrote a short story yesterday, thinking about entering it in the Valentine's Day contest thingie, thinking it's too nutty to put in there.

I edited a chapter for somebody today--a wonderful person, I might add--and that got me thinking about character arcs, which I never knew existed until I found AW. . . thinking there's so much I don't know about writing and thinking what a nut I was to write four novels without knowing crap about writing. . .

I have to start writing and quit thinking, I think.

When I'm not stressing over feeling burnt out, I'm worrying about what I choose to write. I like writing queer fiction and I've got a number of friends who seem to like it, but on the other hand, I've got my mom complaining that she doesn't want to read about 'two guys or two girls' so why don't I just write her a nice story with a guy and a girl. So then I worry whether I'll ever find a market for my writing.

I'm, uh, kind of a worrywart.

Need to get myself out of this rut. I was doing so good, getting so much accomplished then the ex decides we need to break up (after seven years) and I need to leave his house. So I moved back in with mom a week ago and now I just can't get my momentum back. I haven't done any writing in over a week and it's driving me nuts. I'm still trying to get settled in. I open the file but it just sits there, untouched. Ugh! I guess I just need to start typing.

I'm kind of dreading writing this sequel right now specifically for my publisher. I'll ask for an advance this time by having my agent handle the contract. This book is just too huge of a project to get nada in return. Not really complaining, just changing my focus--I have a marvelous contract and excellent royalties on cover--and great sales. But I would have truthfully been better off writing a fresh, different book for my agent; although she has four of mine she's submitting.

tri

I was up and down all day about whether or not my latest novel has what it takes to get published. But I really like it. I can't be the only one.

And then I was thinking about how I really don't want feedback on this book. I just don't feel like it's necessary this time and this is what I've been waiting for! A story I felt like I could handle on my own. And I feel like I'm being arrogant and should get feedback just to knock me off my ladder, but I don't want to be knocked off my ladder. I need to be on my ladder. I need all the confidence I can get right now.

I'm proud of my restraint. I was going to write yet another puking scene and manfully changed it to a nosebleed instead.

Today I must send out that piece!

The subplot of my WIP eludes me. I stress. The more I stress, the better my subplot hides. In the hope it will come out when I'm not looking, I switch to the other WIP. There, the ending is too far away. I stress. The more I stress, the longer the distance grows between the chapter I'm working on and the end of the book. I move on to the MS that needs a few revisions. I balk at making the necessary changes. I stress.

I remember when writing was fun.

Maybe I'm just having a bad day . . . or fifty.

Woot! A whole bunch of shiny, new , markets!

I was thinking about all the things I've written over the past few years, and I realised that quite a lot of them center around a girl with two male best friends. In the end, she always gets together with one of them. I wonder why that is.

I'm afraid that I might be starting to lose steam for my WIP... not sure if I need a break, if it's just a 'slump' week, or if I just need to get my creative juices flowing on something else for a time. I had really wanted to get it sub-able before starting my next big project (esp. since right now I only have a very vague idea of what I want to do) -- I'm afraid that if I don't stick it out, that I'll never get back around to it.

Plot holes. I'm working on a short story and I quite like the plot, but it has two flaws, which I'm struggling to think of solutions to.

Lots and lots of self doubt. Although I've continued to read religiously in the 16 years since leaving school, that was the last time I had any sort of writing/language training. Even then I managed to get on of the best grades in English class but had no idea how to dissect a sentence, I just kind of memorised what seemed to be right!

I might try and do one of the challenges in Uncle Jim's thread here on AW. I don't know for sure yet. I'm debating.

I'm also suffering over my main plot direction after 60 pages of horrendous setup. My editor is supposed to crutch me up on it so I'm waiting for that response.

tri

I'm thinking maybe I need to write some short stories/something totally self-indulgent to wind down. I haven't really been writing at all since finishing the novel I'd been working on for 8 months (at 174K, the longest I've ever written) and maybe jumping right into another novel was a bad idea.

I'm wondering about this technique I heard about called "Object Writing," which is supposed to get you using your senses to write. Has anybody tried it? The author who advocates this is Pat Pattison, who is a well-respected song writer.

Trying to make some sort of sense out of the jumbled ideas in my head. I only have over 1,000 words down out of a possible 70,000-75,000. I need to outline better!