I'm suffering from a serious case of writer's apathy. Not block, because I have ideas. I just don't have whatever energy it takes to write them down. I've got a half written Nocturne Bite that needs to be completed. I have a Super that needs to be edited so I can FINALLY send it out the door. I've got four other projects started, just waiting for me to come back to them.
I know that part of it is sheer exhaustion. My mom's been in the hospital, which is an hour to an hour and a half away from my home, nearly six weeks now, and I'm spending 4 or 5 days a week with her (plus working my full time job and taking care of my kiddo). When all is said and done, I'm whipped. I'm not really surprised I'm having problems writing (kinda hard to write when your spare time is spent sleeping!) but it got me thinking:
What do YOU do when your muse refuses to come out and play?
JodieG
Prepublished and workin' to change that!
A winner of the Big Finish 2 Contest, March 2008!
Sometimes my muse takes extended vacations.
Hey Jodie,
I'm sorry to hear your mom's in the hospital. That can be very exhausting and stressful in itself without adding in the driving and brain drain caused by waiting on doctors. :-(
Sometimes I get so busy or wrapped up in home life, I lose all my creative edge. I used to drive myself crazy and force myself to write this or that to keep a scheduel, but over time I've noticed fighting the muse when she's on strike does no good but to stress me out further.
Give yourself some down time, and your creativity will charge up a lot faster. The stories will be there when you get back. Keep a notebook nearby incase a character starts talking, and then attend to business. Or get some rest.
I usually read a book or two. I think it's the whole act of hearing someone else's character voice in my head. LOL Whatever the case, I find this helps my muse tremedously.
BTW, congrats on your Big Finish 2 win! :-)
Live, love, write...
http://corazane.blogspot.com
JodieG
I have been lazy as well but found a muse of sorts.
I rxed Julie Beard's book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Your Romance published yesterday. We know that it takes hard work and tenacity to be published and we should make a little time to write every day. But seeing those ideas in print made me realize that I have to want it bad enough.
Things in life will always come up. No matter what is happening in my life I feel better (not to mention less guilty) when I find the time to write a little every day.
If you have a tape recorder maybe you could plot when you are driving?
Angel
"I can fix a bad page, but I can't fix a blank one." Nora Roberts
www.angelinabarbin.blogspot.com
Hey Jodie!
I've been thinking about you, lately. Glad to hear you are still with us. ;)
When I'm short on ideas, I go for a walk or some other type of exercise. Laps around the mall are particularly good since you catch snippets of conversation.
But you have ideas, you just are blah about developing them. To fix that I say hang out on th ehar boards more. lol.
But seriously, I truly believe if you surround yourself with highly motivated writers you can't help but write yourself. When they sub, you want to sub, too. Talk to your close writer buddies and have them tell you what they are working on and where they are in the submission process.
Some people work better with a deadline. You can try to set deadlines with your critique partners, telling them you will give them something by such-and-such a date. Have them hold you to it.
Once you submit something, the high will carry you through the next project. Start with the one that needs the least amount of work and go from there.
Good Luck!
FWIW,
SueB
All juiced out....
Hi, Jodie. I'm sorry to hear about your mom. Hope she gets better.
I have been all juiced out before, too. Right now, however, I'm not having that problem. Instead I'm dealing with a cantankerous character who just doesn't want to quite work on paper, and I recently blogged about it. Those darn imaginary people can really get under the skin!
When I do feel I've temporarily lost my 'creative edge' - as Cora called it - it's usually time for a little break. OTOH, I know some people who can force themselves to keep writing and will overcome the issue by not resting. But I can't do that, because my writing will come across as...well, forced and contrived if I try too hard. However, everyone's different. It might be that you need to just forge on, yet, from what you've blogged, it sounds like you need a good break. I wish I could offer better advice than that.
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain
Are you sure that it is a
Are you sure that it is a case of your muse not wanting to come out and play, or is it a case of being too tired to go out and play? Sounds like you are under a great deal of stress. Maybe you just need to go out and play and see if your muse will join you.
Nancy