Overcoming Writer's Block

I don't know what to write about today. I looked back through my previous posts hoping for inspiration but I found none lurking there. I remembered advice I was given about including video clips or pictures so I scanned all of the images I have saved on my computer. Here once again I found nothing waiting in the shadows to guide me. I simply floundered about waiting endlessly to be struck.

Then it occurred to me, all writers at one time or another get stuck just as I am today. We look at our blank screens, our empty pages and we wonder what to write. We reach out with our imaginations dedicated to finding our characters. We try to rouse them from their slumber in order to tell us their stories but some days they simply hide away from us or refuse to speak once located.

So the question becomes of course what do we do? There are limitless answers to this question of course and every writer will do what works best for them but it got me thinking about some of the things I have done in order to open the communication channels myself. Perhaps by sharing what has worked for me, and if inspired to join the conversation others share what tactics they use, we can all find new ways to help push past those slow frustrating times.

One of the biggest ways I continue on is, and it seems silly to say, to honestly just continue on. Like I did today with this post I simply admitted I had no idea what to write but I started putting words on paper and the idea developed from the non-sensical beginning. I will do that with stories as well. If I am unable to get a character to talk to me then I will just take them on a car ride or make them doing something boring like homework and they will in turn become annoyed with me and open up. It doesn't always work but it has been one of my more successful styles of coping with writer's bock.

On the occasions that this attempt does not work my next way to try and rectify the situation is to move to a different project. When a certain group of characters are having attitude problems and refusing to be cooperative it can help to open a story in a completely different style or genre. If I am just not feeling the lovey dove romance novel one day then perhaps I can make progress on my suspense novel instead. If I am just too laid back for the thriller then maybe I should work on compiling the stories and poems submitted for my charity series.

If I have tried all of my books and still nothing has come forward with a willingness to create then I will step away. Not necessarily for the entire day but I will go for a bike ride or take a class at the gym. Exercise is a great and healthy way to clear your mind and help the turmoils of your subconscious work themselves out. More than once I have had breakthroughs while I run on the track or lose myself in the music of my weight lifting class.

If after all of these different attempts have failed then I will resign for the day. Some times you need time and space from your novels. When this occurs I relax with a book, preferably one that is vastly different than anything I am currently writing. Getting lost in someone else's vision has helped to give me ideas as well as perspective on my own creations at times. I also talk to my friends both writer and non writer types. Again this helps me think of things totally unrelated to my works that are being so uncooperative and I am able to ease my mind to try again the next day. What are some things that work for you?

Learning From Kids

When I was five years old I told my mom I wanted to be a magical fairy princess. I told her I didn't know exactly what they did but I was willing to learn. Like many children I was told that I could be anything I wanted to be and that was what I wanted as a kid. I watched all the disney movies I could find with princesses in them. I read book after book trying to learn more about what I wanted to become. 

I was taking dance classes at the time and when I got to dress up in my costumes and perform I felt like royalty. As I continued dancing through the years my dreams shifted. I learned that I could not become a magical fairy princess because they were in fact not real. I did feel like I could fly on wings made of magic when I danced however and decided that I would focus on becoming a dancer. I studied different styles of performance, incorporated a number of genres of music into my repertoire. I was sure that I was going to travel the world performing on stages across every continent.

Because of a few physical and one major emotional setback however I did not dedicate as much time and effort to my training and studying of the craft as I should have. I fell away from my dreams and gave up. I hid from the world and the further I moved away from dance the more depressed I became. I turned to a hobby I had had since I was seven as a way of dealing with my concerns.

I would write poems and short stories. As my depression set in I began using it as a means of escape. I would write about the worries I had and change the endings to reflect the way I felt it should have gone in real life. It wasn't clear at the time but writing was beginning to take the place of dance in my life. I still did not work on it or dedicate time to writing the way I should have if I wanted to make it a viable life goal and career choice.

Tonight I was watching the cooking competition Masterchef Junior. These young home cooks are dedicated far beyond anything I could have imagined at their ages. I am now less than a week from reaching my thirty second birthday and just within the last couple years I have finally started focusing more on the career choice. I have been procrastinated for quite some time but I have found inspiration to rededicate myself thanks to the children following their dreams on Masterchef Junior.

Pen Names

Writing is my passion. It is a job I have dreamt of and worked towards off and on since I was in elementary school. When I published my debut novel last year I published under a pen name however it is just my first and middle names. I have been married and divorced more than once and so wanted to keep a name that remained constant.

On top of writing I have a day job as most writers do. I am a table games dealer at a Las Vegas Strip casino. It is a fun and entertaining job and gives me a chance to interact with people from all over the world. Along with players, many of my fellow dealers are aware that I write. some even own my book. A few weeks ago one of them asked why I didn't use a completely made up pen name. I know several that do and there is nothing wrong with that. For me I guess I just used my real name because I am proud of what I created and wanted to stand behind it as much as possible.

Now moving forward however I am looking at the possible creation of a few new pen names. I write in a number of different genres and while I am proud of everything I write, for marketing purposes it is better to keep a pen name for children's books separate from my suspense and erotica novels. Then of course there are my YA books which are the ones I write under my real name. I am not by any means ashamed or trying to hide from what I create just making sure that they are kept in separate categories so as to keep the individual audiences happy.

My children's books, though currently ranging in subject matter, are written with more of a masculine tone. I did that specifically for the first few and after that discovered it was easier for me to utilize the same tone for all books for that age group. However being a divorced child free woman that is a difficult angle to market so I will be using a name that is more vague gender wise. For my more adult books I will be seeking something slightly exotic that hearing it puts even me in the mood for reading a story with more adult themes.

Not everyone uses a pen name and some writers write exclusively under one or more pseudonyms. I am looking forward to branching out further and learning more about each side of my personality as I get into character to write more books under each name as well as begin promoting them.

Excerpt from Breathe

She stood shivering in the drizzle knowing she had to go in but not sure her body was going to cooperate. She began to cry, everything had just gotten so out of hand and she wasn’t sure she was going to be able to fix it and get it back on track. Kelsey looked through the revolving doors and saw the desk clerk was pointing at her and prepared for the onslaught of questions she was positive would be coming as soon as the manager got her inside.

            He rushed out and wrapped a raincoat around her soaking shoulders and guided her back into the lobby. She allowed herself to be pulled into the warm sweet smelling room and collapsed onto the plush armchair. He never said a word as he wiped away her wet stingy hair from her forehead and gave her a pitiful look, much like a father looking at a daughter after she lost a beloved pet. He was clearly a good man but she still wanted to get away from him.

            He stalked to the corner of the adjacent room where a coffee maker was simmering and grabbed a packet of cocoa powder adding hot water from the side spout. He came back and presented his gift silently still. She stared at him. She felt like it was a trick, take the hot chocolate and then she would be trapped while she drank it, unable to avoid the prying queries about to spew her way.

            The pathetic look that crossed his face made her feel guilty once more. He lowered the cup in failure and was about to take it back when she smiled and reached for it. His grin returned immediately and he took a seat next to her as she wrapped her stiff frozen fingers around the paper cylinder, appreciating the heat. He was obviously bursting with the questions and she gave up sighed and leaned back in the chair.

Pros and Cons of Research

There are times I believe that research, though important for accuracy, can be a huge problem in the goal of writing a book. I read an article several years ago that gave advice for creating memorable writing and one of the tips that stuck with me was to use specifics in order to make the story more realistic. It made perfect sense but it also made me realize looking over some of the stuff I had written that none of it had specifics so I would need to research to find these things to include.

Because my first book was set in a place, Chicago, that I am quite familiar with and in a world, performing arts, that I grew up participating in, I was very comfortable adding in these specifics. I used ballet terminology that I have heard for years, I mentions modes of transportation and topography of the city I know all too well. I only had to look up a few small items as I went through the writing process.

With Breathe it was a similar story that I did not have to look too deeply for things as this time the city was made up and while it is still realistic fiction I was free to invent places and people at my whim so long as they fit the story. The most difficult part of Breathe is that there were two alternate endings and I am not fusing them and expanding upon the shorter of the two in order to make a fully cohesive book.

Sharing Strength did require a limited amount of research because of the syndrome represented PTSD. I myself was diagnosed with PTSD a decade ago and my therapist believed I had actually been suffering from it far longer. I know the psychosis of the disease but because there are characters that got it in a number of different ways and have varying side effects I needed to look into the areas I am not as familiar with. This book is again set in a small made up town so I can paint the picture of Clydesburg as I see fit as long as all accounts match one another.

The last one I am working on revising at the moment is Welcome To Syn and this one is where I have found research to be a  requirement as well as a major hinderance. It is set during the time of the Salem Witch Trials though not in Salem. The hysteria does play a factor in my book however and so I need to understand that element as well as learn about the darker side of the craft because it does get introduced eventually. Even though it is set in another town I need it to be believable so I have been looking at Salem and getting to know about the people of that time.

I find myself reading and researching for hours fascinated by what I see with still little usable information to be garnered for my own needs. How do you learn what you need without falling into a pit of information that could instead turn your book into a research paper? What can be done in order to narrow a search to just at least mostly relevant information? This is still a journey I am on and hopefully will find some answeres soon so I can get back to being more productive.

Finding My Genre Home

I have many friends that write in the sic fi / fantasy genre. It is a very popular genre and I know not only several writers but more readers of this particular category than perhaps any other. While I find it greatly intriguing to have the ability to form your own world, I have always preferred writing realistic fiction.

I enjoy taking a place I have either visited or want to visit and sharing it with my characters and the rest of the world. My characters are created and like most writers they speak to me and share their lives but they are in fact created. I have never claimed that one genre is better or worse than another though at times I definitely feel that whatever the current popular genre is gets a preference that can cause other genres to be looked upon as less important.

I have written a drama and a charity book that I am immensely proud of but I am still finding my home. I have written a historical fantasy with elements of witchcraft. I have two romance novels and a drama written about a mental disorder. I also have a short story right now that is about domestic abuse based on a true story.

I am always trying to branch out and create something that forces me to push the limits of my own creativity. I have only been seriously working on my writing for a few years and while I have known it is something I am passionate about for many years I am still in the early part of my creative career. I am still learning so many aspects and finding a genre to call my home.

I know many successful authors write in several genres simultaneously as well as write books that can cross category lines. It is my goal to reach that level at some point but there are bound to be some genres I am more comfortable as well as more talented at creating so that is what I am seeking now, my home. I want to find a genre that I can create a number of works within and hopefully eventually build a loyal readership. 

While I search I am hoping that I will eventually make attempts in most of not all of the different styles of books and that includes sic fi and fantasy. For now though I am enjoying realistic fiction and exploring as I gently push the envelope with each new attempt.

Staying Determined

Recently I posted on Facebook about some mixed feelings I have been enduring. I watch as everyday people are creating their visions of covers for their upcoming projects. I see the endless memes and teasers set forth by fellow authors in respect to their work. I long endlessly to be doing more cover reveals and release parties of my own yet there are things that hold me back.

First is a frustrating lack of knowledge on how to create these memes, teasers and covers. I personally have no interest in creating a cover myself as I have a very talented boyfriend and cover artist friend that both can create these for me. The teasers though I wish I know how to make them so I could promote in a more interesting way that simply plying the same text heavy posts again and again. This is one thing I feel should soon be added to my list of things to learn in order to help push my abilities to another level.

The other aspect is that I find myself lost. Not that I do not know what to write because that I feel I am quite on top of but each of my current projects has something that limits my ability to continue on. Sharing Strength is an emotional roller coaster and as more than one character is a portrayal of a particularly difficult part of my life I find myself struggling deeply to move forward very quickly. Breathe is drafted and just needs to have the end revised. This is the closest to being ready for submission and consideration but here I am held back by my own self doubt.

I am concerned that because I am still learning and my first book did not have nearly the reach I had originally hoped, though it has been well received by those that have read it, I cannot help but wonder if my next book will suffer the same fate. I wish so much to prove myself and share my work with an ever widening circle that it pains me to think I do not possess the talent and ability to do so. Welcome to Syn is drafted as well but needs a tremendous amount of work and sadly I have found that I am already introducing new levels in my head along with the list of items needing to be researched so that will be a rather extensive project once I get into it.

Chocolate Covered Cherries is a romance novel without any other genre attached. It is not something I would have ever though I would create but the idea formed and begged to be written so I internally agreed to give my characters the book they deserve. My personal lack of interest in many romance novels though seems to weigh on this project giving me an odd sense of unimportance toward it. I want to write it because it is so new for me and I think the story is actually quite interesting but I still find myself somewhat prejudiced against it and fight an internal battle whenever I open up the file.

On top of those in the works I still owe it to my debut novel Never Give Up to continue doing events and promotional work in order to keep trying to reach new readers but I have found that I was shying away from it almost as an embarrassment. Please do not understand that I am not proud of the accomplishment, I very much am. I love the characters and the reflection of so much of me in the story. It is just that I have come so far, at least I believe I have, since the publication date and I feel my excitement has moved instead to the new books.

I received a reply to my post explaining that I should not be embarrassed about my first book because without a first there can be no second of third. That everything I have learned going through the process has helped me to find a greater voice going forward and that these are things I still would not know if not for that first book. I am grateful for the comment. It seems like common sense but it is easy to fall prey to our own minds at times and allow our emotions to overrun logic. So with that said I am of course still struggling but recommitting my resolve to complete the projects before me and keep pushing for the success I have long desired.