I've been struggling these last few days.
I've been doing quite a bit of reading, and got in my head that I wanted to work on my writing.
So I got out my laptop, and I installed word, and I downloaded the several most promising "works in progress" that fit the mood of what I was wanting to write, and nothing.
I seem to be stuck in a rut for several years now. I have MANY MANY great story ideas, and can usually come up with half of a first post for a serial, but that seems to be about it.
I have several stories, that have been in the works for many years, two of which have had parts posted, and other have only been seen by select friends, an seem to garner a lot of interest from those friends, but why can't I seem to go any further?
I know where they start, and I know where I want them to end, and for most of them, I even know all the little bits that happen in between, it's like a little movie in my head, but that movie just doesn't seem to want to be translated into words.
The last truly successful writing push I had, was when Kim was in the hospital and I was visiting daily. I would spend time there, with my laptop, just pounding away, and getting bits of feedback from her.
Now here I am, having just brought Bill home from the hospital today (was only a 3-4 day stay this time, from what appears to have been dehydration), and I didn't get any writing done.
I want to write, I really do, and I want to share these stories with others, but if they don't flow out I don't know what to do.
I'm not sure what I hope to accomplish with this posting, as I doubt that anyone will be able to come up with something that will work. Every writer has their own methods, and whatnot. But I guess I'm just hoping that venting, and getting something out there will help me get back in the mindset of putting this out there again.
It's been quite a while since I posted a blog here, or on my WordPress blog. Who knows, maybe that's the issue?
-P/KAF/PT (The girl with more PenNames than she has fingers)
Comments
Welcome Back !
It's good to see you again Piper. Maybe posting a note here is all the encouragement your muse needs, poor thing.
I look forward to seeing something soon.
Blessings,
Beth
-Hugs- Beth, It's good to
-Hugs- Beth,
It's good to be back here posting.
There was a while that I was here, and just not posting much, as I was posting many of my thoughts and issues on a private forum where I'm a member, but honestly I probably should have been cross posting as a lot of stuff has happened since I last posted here.
-HuGgLeS-
-P/KAF/PT
Your "Muse"
Stephen King writes for his wife. When he finishes his manuscript he gives it to her to read and watches nervously to gauge her reaction. He doesn't write for his millions of fans; he writes for her. While he writes he imagines how she'll react, what she needs to know to understand the story, and what she will want to see to help her establish the scene in her mind.
Perhaps what you need to do is go outside yourself to the person you are writing for. What kind of story does he/she want to experience? Start from the perspective of that ONE reader and consider that to be your muse.
When I was doing my best writing for BC I was writing for Jenny Walker. When she backed away from our community I lost my muse and my voice. I've never found a replacement.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
That might be entirely the
That might be entirely the issue. There was one person I used to write for, the one person I would try and impress above all else, but she's no longer with us.
-sighs-
I still want to write for her tho, and I want to finish our shared projects, and finish the stories of mine that were her favorites..
-sighs-
-P/KAF/PT
Then why don't you?
Write what you want to write for her, and post it in her memory. It is said that those we care about never truly leave us so long as we remember them, and what better way to remember someone -- not just to yourself, but to those around you -- than to continue doing something they loved to the best of your ability?
Melanie E.
Interestingly...
Tabitha King is a novelist in her own right, so it wouldn't surprise me if the reverse situation is also true - she writes for Stephen, passes her missives to him to proofread and pass comment on...
And evidently the writing bug is a family thing - their two sons have also published works (their daughter chose a slightly different vocation - she's a minister!)
There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't...
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Writing
Piper,
I am not a writer so I am not sure that this will help.
Sometimes while I am driving or doing mundane stuff I am thinking of stories. Perhaps you can verbalise your thoughts
while driving and record them than play them back when at your computer?
Good luck
James
Thought of this before, but
Thought of this before, but never actually done it... Maybe I should at some point.
Just not sure if it would help me any... I've also considered using Dragon Natrually to see about dictating stories that way, but it always seems like so much work to train Dragon.
-P/KAF/PT
inspiration
I am the same hon. I struggle with my "middle parts" so much i often skip them, which is why my stories tend to be short. But, here are some ideas for you:
1: write anything down. Write the old "the quick brown fox" typing exercise if you have to. just get something to cover that terrible blank screen. Sometimes, just getting your fingers moving across the keyboard helps.
2: get away from it when it gets frustrating. Take a walk, have a bath, find a partner and have a roll in the hay, anything that relaxes you. you may get an idea, you may not, but the main thing is to lower your stress levels so writing doesn't feel like a chore.
3: spitball ideas. find someone, here, elsewhere on line, or in real life who you can bounce concepts off without judging them. write these down, no matter how silly they might appear at first. The idea is to get your brain going without the critical voice in your head stopping you.
4: since it is the middle that seems to be blocking you, write the beginning and the end that you are able to think of. then pretend it was published just like that, and you were just a reader and the not the writer. Ask yourself, what's missing? What absolutely must happen for the end to make sense? Again, if you know someone who can help you, that works best because they really are just a reader.
5: do what you just did, and vent. We will encourage you, support you, and tell you how wonderful you are, which may not help you write, but at least you will feel a bit better.
Good luck hon, we are pulling for you.
"Treat everyone you meet as though they had a sign on them that said "Fragile, under construction"
dorothycolleen
I almost ALWAYS write down
I almost ALWAYS write down the bits and ideas I get for stories. No matter if it's initially on my phone, my laptop or a piece of paper, and I transcribe them all into a doc I keep at google. IT has bits and pieces of online chats, and story ideas and what I can remember of dreams, and just anything I can use to go into existing stories, or even make new stories.
It's been suggested to me before, for one of my more ambitious projects, that I just do "glimpses" instead of a full cohesive story, and then maybe in the future go back and pull them into a cohesive story.
As for just writing to write, I try and do that too. IF I'm in a story, and I get an idea that doesn't fit, I just tab over to a notes doc, and I write it anyways. Sometimes if Im in a flow (not recently obviously) I'll just write it in the middle of whatever I'm currently working on and then go back and move it out or elsewhere later.
I have someone I spitball ideas off of, and I do contribute occasionally to a few authors here and elsewhere. I honestly thing that what I need more than anything else, is to complete something. Aynthing no matter if it's a stand alone short piece or a single coherent chapter of a longer piece and post it and gather the feedback I need to continue.
The biggest problem is, that I'm afraid to post some of the single chapters I have, because they are pieces that have been floating in space for so long, I don't want to disappoint more than the few I already have.
I guess the one thing I haven't been doing lately is venting much.
And it's pretty apparent to me that I needed to do so, as I've replied to every reply to my original posting -giggles- so far.
-HuGgLeS- and thanks for the encouragement.
-P/KAF/PT
Loong time...
Nice to hear from you... Sounds like your issues with writing continue along the same path... (I know mine are the same today, as they were six months ago. Though, if I'm lucky, maybe by Christmas I'll have something to post...) Glad to hear you sound like you're still around though and want to write.
I'll put on my white lab coat, grab out my pencil and paper, and write a prescription that I think will help you get at least one of those ideas unlocked and written. :-)
In your case, the doctor suggests you find someone who will collaborate with you...
You need someone:
1) who's style "meshes"
2) who you like (a little)
3) who has time
4) who you will let keep going, when you stumble
5) who also wants to write the story you envision.
6) who's a little organized and 'disciplined'...
A help wanted add could well generate a dozen applicants, who are willing to work for a percentage of what you get for posting here... (AKA zero! lol)
I'd also suggest you start with something that's not "uber" ambitious - to get started.
I suspect that with someone providing you regular feedback and actually contributing to the story you'll find your dry spell isn't so dry...
Best wishes and lots of luck,
Anne
-Hugs- Annete, Yeah I'm
-Hugs- Annete,
Yeah I'm still having the same muse/writing issues. I really do want to write, and I set myself up in what is a positive writing environment for me, and I just end up sitting there, trying to write story a, with tons of ideas for story b, c, d, e, f, g floating through my head, and then I decide to move to one of those, and have same issues.
I guess one of my main issues with finding someone to collaborate, is that what I've been "in the mood" to write lately, are a couple of my shorter JulieChristine style stories. Stories with plot twists that are sometimes unique or polar opposite of what's normally seen in TG fiction. They also have a tendency to be dark, and scary, and deal with subjects like Suicide or Cutting.
It's hard to find someone that can really get into those characters like I do when I write them, I think sometimes because I touch on some real feelings felt by people that they REALLY don't want to think about.
I'm not trying to work on my prequel right now, that really does seem a bit too daunting at the moment, and the last push I put into it, when Kim was in the hosp, was right after making headway on another project (stuff for Kim's Expo series) and I'm hoping getting something else closer to post ready will eventually drive me back to the prequel.
For those few out there that have seen it, I think I am going to do some work on Trials of a Genius today. It fits the mold of the stories I've been reading lately and I think it might work to get my creativity flowing.
Wow, that's a lot of dust on that file -giggles-
-P/KAF/PT
Writing
Nice to see your back. Why not start off small? A short story to get back into the feel of things.
Like someone also suggested, write to the one you miss. Think of her as you write the story and how she would input to you.