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| Blue-footed boobies |
WHY is it good you ask? Because we NEED each other.... and networks and groups are pretty much interchangeable that way... Maybe we should call it a gaggle or a posse or a MURDER... A murder of insecure writers? No! WAIT! Here it is! A CONGRESS of insecure writers! What is it that travels in congresses anyway? Boobies? A congress of boobies? *cough* And there it is! BABOONS! I was close. Sort of. Alliteratively speaking anyway...
So Back to the Insecurity Theme
Do you ever get to feeling like your wheels are spinning? You have intentions, ideas.... maybe even a few lucid dreams that would make fabulous plot elements... but you just can't seem to make your traction catch so you can fly?
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| A Congress of Baboons (the guy in the middle is filibustering) |
I got knocked for a loop and I am somehow now stuck on my back with my legs waggling in the air. It isn't that this has never happened before, but it has been quite a while. I'd sort of just gotten used to being on a role and changing hats... writing to editing and back... but then this... LIFE tossed me a lemon tree and I've been so busy making lemonade that the writing just hasn't happened.
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| Me. Anyone want to topple me back to rights? |
Any of you have fabulous tricks for getting going again when you've been thrown off track?
Don't forget to get around to the other insecure folks out there!
24 comments:
I know exactly how you feel! And I love the idea of "traction". Life got in the way for me as well this summer. I think there are times when it's OK not to write.
Keep hanging with us Hart - we'll turn you back over on your feet!
And the first part of your post is hilarious.
Are they really boobies? Well, they're ador-a-ble! Blue feet and all. :)
Okay, can you feel this...urgh! up-sa-daisy, there you go! That was me, gently rolling you over on your feet!
Here are a few tricks I use to find my mojo:
1. Shopping (not clothes or shoes, but antiquey, crafty, fun stuff).
2. Nature walk, alone.
3. Art, painting, crafting.
4. Gardening.
5. Shopping.
6. Reading in the genre I'm writing.
7. Shoppping.
8. Museum or gallery field trip.
9. Reading the newspaper-you'd be surprised. I find an idea, each time I read one!
10. Shopping.
Happy IWSG. :)
I'll help you back up onto all fours lovely Tart!!! :-)
How to get your mojo back - time for more NAKED!! Yay! Take care
x
Reading always works for me, but taking a break isn't a bad thing because when it starts to flow, you won't be able to stop.
A Congress of boobs ... :)
not IWSG but the real thing! Just clarifying.
Aww, it sounds like you had quite the month. Hopefully you can find your footing again soon. I do love your turtle analogy. Waving your feet in the air is no way to make progress--but I think it happens to everyone at some point.
As for ways to start writing again, here's what I do.
-take the pressure off. Just do word count. Five hundred words is a good start. Write about absolutely anything. How rotten your day was. Describe your perfect meal. Who your favorite person in the whole world is. The story you would write if no one was looking.
-Look at pictures. Paintings and illustrations work better than photos for me.
-Make playlists. This might be unique to me, but music always puts me in the mood to write.
-Take care of yourself. Sleep, talk to friends, do something good for your body.
Hope these help, and get you lots of happy words! :)
Hart, you've had a rough time as of late. I fell off the writing wagon for a very long time. Go back and read some of your earlier work, or your first book. That might be all the inspiration you need.
first, may I just say - I ADORE the blue footed Boobies.
Yes, wheels spinning over here too, and mainly that has been due to a certain 8 year old child. Now that she has returned to school, well, I'll just leap back into writing, then, won't I.
NOT
I'm going to : read a lot
Edit what I do have
Write some ideas
bump up the level of blogging
Enter some Flash Fiction contests (Because why not? And it would be good practice.)
Read a lot more
Best of luck, Hart!
Being in the editing cave has really kicked me off the writing track. Not that I'm complaining I have books coming out...not at all. But over this past weekend, I wrote a novella. Well, a DRAFT of a novella. LOL. But it's helped me get back on track again. I'm looking forward to November's Nanowrimo....Woot!
Love all your alliterative animal allusions there :) Sigh... getting turned over on your back can be frustrating, but you are still writing and that's amazing! Keep it up! Keep it up!
Good post. I can sure identify with that turtle. :/
Christopher-sorry you got caught in it, too! I tried not to sneeze on anyone.
Alex-I knew you were a boobie man. *snort*
Candilynn-great ideas! Some of those things definitely help me. Mostly though, I am just trying to get the pesky stuff off my plate so I'm less distracted.
Kitty-THANK YOU! Back on the feet and naked!
Yolanda-I'd think at least a congress of boobs would be a happy place, eh?
Kirsten-great ideas! I have tried some limited sprints.
Diane-that is sort of where I am--need to get back to older works... not REAL old, but a year or more old...
Alison-they're cute, aren't they? Hope school works for you!
Lynn-the last time I had trouble it was because of editing, too. If I delay the writing until I CAN'T not do it, that helps.
Elizabeth-yeah--all that waggling isn't even as good of exercise, let alone not moving me anywhere!
Jess-thank you!
Great post, Hart! We do need each other. I believe that will all of my heart.
As for any tricks... um, when that happened to me, I had to write a new series... so, um, I may not be the best person to take advice from.
Have a fab Wednesday. You're awesome, gorgeous, and amazing. =)
Oh, ((hugs)) to you. You've been dealing with a lot. Here, little turtle, let me turn you back over. :o)
I guess just try to clear the decks and start pounding away til it comes back. That's what I try to do.
Just keep swimming. Try to jump on that big current~ <3
I didn't write a single word in August. I'm aiming for a comeback too >:)
Cold As Heaven
Yes, I DO find it difficult sometimes to get back into the swing of things, a former habit or whatever, be it writing or exercising or so on. Good luck getting back into your groove! I'm trying to find mine. Keep slipping up a bit, but I'll get there. :)
It's all good, don't wory about it. Here is a big pat on the back for what you did get done, not what you should have gotten done. You know how it seems to be easier for some women to get pregnant once they quite trying so hard? I think sometimes life just forces us to take a moment to breath. You have had a tough summer so it is ok to take a bath without your pen for awhile.
A short term memory helps :) I'm a creature of habit, so I just try to start a new routine and stick to it as best as possible. It's pretty cliche but I've learned from my sports related experiences that you have to forget about past performance each time you get up to do a new effort.
I'm a little obsessive, so when I'm editing, I'm editing. There's no "two or three projects at once" for me. Granted, I'm also running the publishing company, but as a writer I'm monogamous. Still, this time of year is a huge change up for me. All summer while school's out I have to hugely segment my day and the only time I have to write is late at night after everyone is tucked in. This summer I had promised to give my little one more time and didn't write a word! Jumping back in is a little hard but I'm falling back on my old trick- and it's failsafe for me- reading my favorite scenes from my first book in the series (this is a sequel I'm writing) to get me back in their heads and hear my characters' voices. Sure enough, after a few days of that, I'm chomping at the bit to get back into my story. Best of luck to you and i hope you have an entirely uneventful fall. No medical maladies, of course. A huge book deal or massive fan attacks are acceptable events.
Here from Alex's blog. Great post, btw. If it's any consolation, I can totally relate to what you're saying here. I did not write much in June or July. Seriously, maybe 400 words the entire two months. I was simply too busy with family, vacations, etc. Now that my life has slowed down again, I'm getting back into the groove of things. All I can tell you is keep at it. Eventually, the words will begin to flow again.
When my life gets hectic, I generally can't write. Writing is important and I love creating characters and plot lines, but my family is more important and so when they need me, I am there for them. So good for you and your lemonade! Need any extra sugar? I have some you can use, if so:)
I was tossed off writing completely since mid-July with family medical crisis week, no month, no seven-weeks and counting. Okay, time to put down the lollipops and get the butt back in the chair. (After catching up with the blogoverse, of course!)
Of course you haven't gotten much writing done, with all that you've been through! With me, it helps to just think and ponder and dwell on what I'm gonna write, but I don't let myself sit down and really write. Then when I finally do have time, the ideas and words have built up in me and they flow out.
Would that help?
Hi Hart, I was just thinking about you and wondering how your summer has been. No tricks for getting back in the saddle, other than one foot in front of the other and lots of mixed metaphors. ;)
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