I’m Stuck…
No, it’s not writer’s block! I refuse to have writer’s block! No, No, No!
It’s just the words won’t come…. It’s just a bump in the road…It’s….
I stare at the empty page. Or maybe the page has lots of words, but I can’t see them…
Yeah! Maybe that’s it. They are invisible. So…
I’ve been reading and reading and reading…UGH!
Even writing reviews, of what I’ve read, are hard to find the words to say what I feel.
And it’s not like the stories aren’t there. I talk to my characters. I ask them, “Where do you want to go from here? What do you want to say?” And we have these long conversations and yet…The words just aren’t getting from my Brilliant Scatterbrained mind to the paper.
We do a word prompt at my local writer’s group. This past meeting the prompt was, “What are you looking for?” And I had no problem with that one. The homework one on the other hand…“Two hours went by and he/she wasn’t there.” And I’m drawing a blank. No creative spark. No…
I like the people in my writer’s group. They are coming up on their 4 year anniversary. (I just recently joined and have been to 4 meetings) But most of them write non-fiction and I’m a fiction writer. It was brought up at the last meeting are you happy with the group the way it is, or would you like to see some changes? Critiquing was pretty much out-voted. The basic theme of the group, which is called, Writers helping writers, is we do a word prompt, then we do another exercise, and then we read our stories from the last meeting’s homework prompt. There are pats on the back. Good job comments and that’s about it. I want more! I want to be challenged. I want someone to say, “You should have said this, or maybe you could write it this way. I want to move forward. I want to challenge others! I want to be the best I can be and I want to help you be the best you can be.
That said…I’m stuck…I have been writing a blog post about, Chris’ Journey the first book, and even that I’m stuck on. LOL
So I have been reading. Reading help books. Reading other blogs. Reading the books that were shared in my blog series, “Judging a Book by its Cover” and writing short reviews.
Here are two blog posts I read this morning. The first one is about famous writer’s tips on overcoming writer’s block.
And the second one is about self-doubt, struggles, and The Insecure Writer’s Support Group.
http://ascenicroute.wordpress.com/2013/03/06/iwsg-embracing-the-turtle/
And here are two of the help books, I have been reading. The first one, I have read more than once. It is “250 Things you should know about Writing” written by Chuck Wendig. A word of caution. Chuck writes with humor and some of that humor is rated G, and some is PG, and then there is R, and maybe even some X-rated thoughts. 🙂 So if you have virgin ears, er…virgin eyes, then this book is not for you, but he does give some great tips!
“The Little Red Writing Book” by Brandon Royal
Well I am off! I have a beta read to finish this morning and another short story to finish and write the review on Amazon, and then maybe…I can get unstuck 🙂
Happy Monday everyone and enjoy your week!
I just finished reading this blog post and wanted to share the link. It’s titled “In The Corner– Writing exercise” Check it out!
http://theindieexchange.com/in-the-corner-writing-exercise/
- Posted in: Uncategorized
- Tagged: blank pages, blogs, help, ideas, reviews, stuck, tips, words, writers block, writing
karensdifferentcorners 
The very best of luck with that, Karen. I’m sure we all empathize with your situation. I got stuck yesterday, writing a chapter of my latest novel. I was pleased with the first two paragraphs and then got stuck on a dialogue response. Eventually, I resorted to my favorite trick in this situation, which is to have the character say something completely off the wall. That worked!
I’m sure something will come along for you, too… :-))
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Hi Stuart.
It’s there, but then again…It’s not. I know I just have to work through it. So how is the new book coming along? Any idea as to when it will be out? 🙂
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Good question, Karen. I started it in January 2012 and originally planned to have it finished in November. There has been a bit of slippage since then! At present rate of progress, I might get it done by May. On the other hand…
Having said that, the writing process has gone really well from my point of view and I feel good about the 60,000 words I’ve written so far.
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Well I am anxiously awaiting!
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Writer’s block … I have it … love it and want to share it!!! Spring is on her merry way and I have great hope for magical words to appear on my paper n x
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I am finding just writing my blog post and talking to others is helping a great deal! As for spring, It is a beautiful day here today! The sun is out and the birds are singing away.
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Funny, I wrote on a similar,but different problem today, what I call the doldrums. Not that I can’t write, but that I can’t even sit down to try. I blame it on Daylight Savings. You can too, if you want 😀
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I can relate. I sit down here on my computer and tweet, blog and facebook and check emails 😦 I sit down with pen and paper and get, if I’m lucky, 1 or 2 sentences down. Hi Rebecca! And I call mine hiccups!
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Oh and I hate when the time changes!
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the writing isn’t the hard part, it’s the commitment. when you commit to writing regularly, the stakes for each thing you write go down. the amazing truth is that not every thing an artist makes is brilliant. but when enough things are, she leaves her mark. tony
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Don’t give up. Eventually you’ll see your invisible words again.
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Wow, can I ever relate!
I’m just crawling out now and it’s an arduous process. But if I can do it, so can you. Everybody has their ways of dealing and you’ll find yours 🙂
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