This Block Stinks

I started Book 3 what, maybe a month ago, and I have only achieved 4 pages. Granted, it was finals time and I was cramming in all my end of the year projects in but still, 4 pages isn't much. I guess I also did a few extra Book Bits and exercises in writing but I feel so... Unaccomplished.

The most frustrating thing as a writer is to not be able to write. There have been a few days where I'm excited to write and can't wait to get home and have the chance to sit down with my book. But by the time I get home from work I'm exhausted and just want to sleep. So I don't write and just increase my frustration.

It wasn't until a couple days ago that I decided to go for a Scatterfield drive (the first in months actually) and had one of those all-too-common revelations. I listened to some music I wrote Book 2 to and had a flashback to the summer when I was working on my desert book. The music put me back in the mindset of a laid-back, content period where I didn't have much to worry about besides work and 2 classes. When I jumped over to music I planned Book 3 to I was taken back to the fall where I would plan my book around the rainstorms that drifted in while green trees rattled over my porch.

These memories were so vividly tied to those songs that I realized I wasn't so much lacking my writing motivation or skill but just waiting for the right time to write. As a veteran writer, I know it's best to avoid writing when you aren't in the mood because all it makes is really poor material. Since I'm not surrounded by a happy environment, schedule, or mindset during the school term, I'm not writing. I don't want to associate Book 3 with being stressed and exhausted and overwhelmed.

This made me feel better for not writing this semester but it also broke my heart. Realistically, my schedule won't slow down until May. So I have to spend another semester reading and editing books instead of writing. This is hard for me to accept. I don't want to admit that I have to put off writing for another semester but I really do. For the sake of my books and my own overwhelmed mindset I have to set the books aside and focus on getting out of school.

But it still doesn't make it any easier to accept...

Double Post: The Writer is an Artist

I finally got that giddy feeling from writing today. I decided to write a Book Bits- what I like to call little pieces about my characters and stories. These things may not ever make it into a book (I don't intend for half of them to) but they help me familiarize myself with my characters and get excited about writing. I haven't been able to overcome a slight writer's block for about 3 weeks now so this was the best method to move on.

This Book Bit was amazing! It was bumpy at first because it was supposed to be a suspenseful one and I rarely write those. But it turned out excellent. It was so interesting and the characters just seemed to flow onto the pages. It was supposed to be a scene from the book I'll write after I finish this series (an entirely new book whose plot is still forming) so I was unfamiliar with where it would go.

While writing this four page bit that I totally miss my writing adventures. I was able to recall those moments where I get so wrapped up in the writing that I can't type fast enough to keep up with my mind. My palms were sweaty, my mind racing a million thoughts a minute, the music blaring in my mind. It was pure suspense. Even I didn't know what was going to happen.

Now that I'm done with that bit, I now know where I'm going and I'm going right back to the books. I'm leaping into those pages, rediscovering my love for the legends, and enveloping myself in the vocabulary, syntax, and plot. I'm building stories from threads, stringing them together to create a tapestry of art and words. This is what a writer is; an artist who feeds on their creations.