Wednesday, August 19, 2009

"Shorter of Breath and One Day Closer to Death"

I am under a writer's block.

I don't believe in regular writer's block because you can just write I have nothing to write over and over until something comes along or doesn't.

"Under a writer's block" means life is heavy and consuming and there is seriously no time to write. OK. In all honesty, I could have put down Wings last night, but I'm just so tired from working and -- fine, I admit it -- I did some life-living this weekend, some fresh air-breathing, talking to live humans, music-and-dancing life.

And oddly, I don't feel bad about it. This is weird because I am a certified guilt factory.

Just so you know, the absolute worst part of writing is the waiting. Still not being done with this novel reminds me of suffering through last period in high school. No matter how much I rage inside, time will continue to move at a rate of 60 seconds per minute, 60 minutes per hour, and so on. There is nothing to do but, well, whatever you do.

When writing, every time I dream up an awesome idea that needs to be foreshadowed in an earlier chapter (which is already finished), I have a mix of dread and glee: happy I found a missing element in my plot, pissed I am adding yet more time to an already much too lengthy task.

I want it done. I want it to have a cover and starred reviews and readers who wish they could meet my main character. And I want it to be exceptional; that takes time.

I suppose that's why I don't feel bad about relaxing under this writer's block. I'll get up soon. My words will still be there, and I will have a little more experience, and hopefully some freshly cooked patience.

Moral of the story: Doing fun shiz is part of the writing process. Do you agree?

8 comments:

  1. Sometimes time away is exactly what I need!

    So how are you liking Wings? I enjoyed it at face value, as a cutesy Disney-esque tale.

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  2. Breaks with the living are good. :) No need for guilt. But I understand the desire to finish. I'm right there on one of mime as well and just can't seem to get there.

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  3. Wings is pretty good. I keep picturing Miley Cyrus as Laurel because of Disney optioning the book. I LOVE Tamani.

    As I read, I realize how rare third-person writing is in YA novels. That aspect feels a little old-fashioned.

    I love the "sex is nothing but fun" angle. I also love that Laurel describes seeing her petal on the table as feeling like her underwear was laid out in front of her friends. I have about 80 pages left. I am hoping to finish it before bed tonight.

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  4. "I did some life-living this weekend, some fresh air-breathing, talking to live humans, music-and-dancing life."

    Good for you! You've got to get out and live every once and a while :) I haven't done any writing this week either, thanks to Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series. Wings is on my TO READ list so I'm glad you are enjoying it.

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  5. Yes, you need to live a little (a lot) to write well. I can't wait to hold and even smell my new book someday.
    ~ Wendy

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  6. Oh, to be pinned down by a heavy and consuming writer's block and still have the ability to write such readable blog material! I'm envious.

    (Actually, "blog material" sounds a bit crass for writing this sublime. It's not easy to sound sublime--or be funny--when writing about writer's block ;~)

    I loved the part about being a certified guilt factory. I've been one of those too, but these days I'm trying to scale back on production.

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  7. Wow, Milli, thanks for the compliments.

    Sometimes I don't count "blog material" as writing. I have this drive to finish the novel, so if I'm not working on that, I feel as if I've done nothing. But the truth is, I write for my day job, and I have this blog, and I write freelance for a couple clients, too. So I write every damn day, without fail.

    Thanks for helping me realize that I am a word factory. Maybe that will help me cut back on guilt production too.

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