I've been doing a horrible job with my Mon/Fri blog schedule lately. To be honest, I feel like I've been doing a horrible job with everything lately. And hoping that rut is at least predominately in my mind doesn't help me get out of it.
One thing I missed mentioning is a guest post on Melissa Petreshock's site (site is down), addressing the difficulty of creating an endless stream of content that is sufficiently interesting to stand out in the social media world. This was followed by a rather lovely 4.5-star review of Mending Heartstrings from Melissa's sister Jen, and their resident Psychocat.
I've also, quite obviously, been failing at contributing to the weekly Flash! Friday contest. This is partially because I've felt that the time I spend writing, or trying to write, or facing writer's block is better served focusing on my latest WIP, Fallen. This project has proven to be quite a challenge, and has been progressing at a much more, shall we say, leisurely pace than my other books. I started it back in July, and it hasn't yet reached 10,000 words. As I work, I'm constantly reminded of Hemingway's statement:
"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed."
In truth, with this WIP, adding a few hundred words has literally been an all-day endeavor at times. I used to think the pace of my other books was slow — compared to writers I know who can get down 10-20K words a day. This project has shown me that those were the easier times. But I'm trudging on and chipping away.
How have your 2015 projects been going?
Just a thought, but perhaps your heart isn't into your new book. The reason things come easily, I believe, is because they're ready to be written. I usually take a break from something that's clotted. Then again, you know yourself the best. Good luck with the block:)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Julie :-) I actually did take a break, from August to February. The hardship with this project is a combination of the narrative mode (first-person present) and the subject matter. It's just a tough one to write.
DeleteI think we sometimes put too much pressure on ourselves. Live is too short to try and force things that don't want to come to us. A break is a great idea and I always feel better in the summertime! Hang in there. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sherry! It's hard not to impose an enormous amount of pressure on everything I write, to do it justice.
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