At the moment, blank pages are all I've got.
All the blankness got me thinking today that, perhaps, writing a novel right now (or even attempting to finish one of my many dangling WIPs) is a bit ambitious. I really miss writing...and blogging too! But the thought of a novel is too big for me to wrap my stretched-too-thin mind around at the moment. So I've decided to dial it back a bit and go for a short story. I'll even do one better than that, I'm going to simply flesh out one that I've already started. Just like that old saying goes...How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
Copping out? Maybe.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. And right now I'm having to overcome a HUGE amount of "static fiction"
Copping out again: This blog entry is actually an excerpt from my journal. Yes, that means you just took a peek in my diary ;-)
So what do you do if you're writing mojo is flowing slower than molasses in January?
I think writing a short story to help you get back into things is a good idea. Writing a novel just seems like a really daunting task, especially for those of us who are not writers.
Write about the story that consumes you that keeps you up at night... if you can't wait to sit down and write about it you will not make it to the end, and the passion will not come through in your writing.
So far I haven’t had a problem with finding the words... I have a problem with confidence in what I am composing. My best advice is comes from my blog post, so I’ll quote it here, it might help someone. Hopefully.
“What is the best advice to a beginning writer you could offer?
Mine would be this: once you start to write, just write… don’t get bogged down with research or dissecting your structure or worry about anything.
Just write and let the rush of starting something new push you onward. There will always be time to go back and pick apart what you have done. If you have to, keep notes of names places and scenes for references—but don’t stop composing to read what you have done until you’re DONE, or the rush will leave you behind scratching your head, or the feeling of self-doubt will creep in and the overwhelming feeling will make you feel inadequate…
Also don’t worry about word count it will come and it will all work out.
That about sums it up for me, I hope you write and make millions… best of luck!”