Struggle and Persistence

I have a relatively new crit partner, and in addition to trading work and brainstorming with each other, we've also been trying to keep each other accountable on weekly goals. Last Sunday when I sent her my goals for the week, I was horrified to see that I had 15 rather serious goals to achieve. She challenged me to completely mark 5 off my list. I'm happy to say that I crossed off 10 (which included writing this blog post).

One of my goals was to write for at least an hour per day on my new project. This proved to be harder than it seems.

My permanent desk muses:
one of my cats and the PowerPuff Girls

Saturday in particular was a day of writer's block. I struggled, staring out my window, messing with my cat, hoping that the PowerPuff Girls would save my from my strife. I stared at the words I had already written and though, "Eh. Who cares?" It was a rough day.

Then I came across this blog post from one of the fellow Campaigners. It helped me remember that my first draft doesn't need to be perfect. No one else has to see it. As long as I keep at it and keep working, it will come together in the end. And then I can come back and cut out that superfluous scene where they're watching a movie, right? :)

As long as I remember to edit the life out of it before I start sending it out to my poor crit partners. *innocent whistling*

We all have those days when it's hard to get the words out. But on a first draft, it helps to turn off the perfectionist inside. Let's just hope I can keep it up.


What do you do when you run into writer's block? How hard do you try to polish the first draft? Do you edit while you write? Or revise everything later?

Where'd the Mojo Go?

First, remember to sign up for the What's the Score Blogfest for June 1st. List songs you'd like to be in the soundtrack to your WIP, and win prizes just for participating. Click above or on the right for more details.
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Mojo Jojo, from "The Powerpuff Girls"
Courtesy of Wiki Commons

My mojo's disappeared. My muses have left the building. And the more I hunt, the more avoidy it all gets.

Maybe Mojo Jojo stole it!

No, I can't blame him. This isn't a new development. This started during April. I thought, well, I'm concentrating on my blogging for A to Z, and I had to finish my classes and some freelance work. So I let myself take a break.

Bad idea.

Nine Muses dancing with Apollo, by Baldassare Peruzzi
Courtesy of Wiki Commons

I'm trying to find the mojo again. It's hard to get the ball rolling. I want to dance with the muses and find my way back into my work. And I think I'll be much happier when I can.

How do you get the muses to start dancing for you again? What do you do when the mojo eludes you?

Tune (#atozchallenge)

Welcome to today's post on the A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. My challenge, as I have chosen to accept it, is thus: I have asked on my Facebook and Twitter accounts for people to contribute random words beginning with today's letter. From Random.org, I have selected one of these words, and will below challenge myself to connect said word to writing.

For the letter T, I received 58 suggestions. Random.org selected number 30: tune.


Tune

Music helps me write. I have an ever-evolving playlist that I consider the soundtrack to my novel(s). Here are a couple of the highlights, in no particular order (links go to YouTube):

Muse

Muse, "Starlight"

The Spice Girls, "Wannabe" (don't ask how that happened)

Paramore, "Conspiracy"

Heartless Bastards

Heartless Bastards, "Had to Go"

Brazilian Girls, "Jique"

Juanes, "A Dios le Pido"


Do you have a soundtrack for your fiction? What songs/artists are on your lists?


I'm taking suggestions today for the letter Z. Have any? Leave them below. Thanks!

The Art of the Outline

I used to fancy myself as a pantser. I truly did. Or at least about here:

I always had some kind of plan for the stories: a beginning, a couple crucial middle points, and a vague idea of the end. But after leaving point A, I could have gone through both Nova Scotia and Dubai before getting to point B. Editing then involved reducing the Trans-Siberian railroad trip to a transcontinental flight (no snacks included; please pay $25 per checked luggage item), and maybe my characters didn't really NEED to go to Dubai. I'll clip that and keep it for a later WIP.

This lasted until NaNo, I think. I was so excited to start on that new piece, I spent days outlining, character sketching, etc. I'm glad I did, because I don't think I would have finished NaNo otherwise. I needed that outline to remind me of where else I needed to go, and which overpriced-with-hidden-fees transcontinental flight could more easily get me there.

Then I started working on this latest project of mine. Can I just say for the record that my brain won't let it go ANYWHERE without an outline? So, what have I been doing this week? Well, besides avoiding my WIP since I don't know where it's going, I've started outlining (and then because I was excited about the outline taking shape, apparently now I'm blogging. Productive, huh?).

My goal for this week is to get this amorphous little outline into something resembling the outline I used for NaNo, so that by next week I will be less afraid of this new WIP.  I'm really happy with what few ideas have solidified in my mind regarding this WIP, but fumbling in the dark isn't my style anymore. I'm not sure if it's because I've changed as a writer—I did have that writing class last semester that could have also contributed to this change—or if it's particular to this WIP. Either way, I need this outline whipped into shape.

If you plan, how do you plan? What's your strategy for developing the sequence of events?


If you pants, how do you learn to trust your characters with each new WIP that they'll get you to the end in a decent fashion?

A Wednesday Inspiration

So, I will continue to apologize for not being a good blogger-buddy.  By the end of September, my life should settle down some, and I will be able to return to the blogging world more fully.

My writing class is going well, sort of.  I have a nice idea for my first story submission, that's due on the 1st. But every time I try to sit and write it, I just stare at white. It's evading me and haunting me at the same time.  And, well, I have about 10 days now to whip out 10-15 decent pages, so we can add stress to the writer's-block equation.

As I was reading for class just now, I ran across this quote.  It comes from Making Shapely Fiction by Jerome Stern—a lively book, mostly written in crafted vignettes on how to improve your writing.  I would highly recommend it.

Trust Your Material

You are interesting. Your experiences, your imagination, your perceptions, your emotions are interesting.  What is closest to you is valuable for your art. Believe that. Your honesty and your talent are inseparable. Don't falsify by conventionalizing. Your uniqueness lies not in fulfilling cultural stereotypes but in expressing what you really uncover, like it or not. (246-247)

This passage—only the beginning to this section—was not assigned reading for class today, but I needed to read it, anyway.  I've been needing the push, I think, to believe in the story I want to write and allow myself to do so.  Keep your fingers crossed.

What inspiration have you found lately to help you in your writing?