Why a writer's family are saints

There are some professions where the family has to have the patience of a saint. I contest that the family of writers need that kind of patience. And I'll tell you why.

At least in my case, when I write, it's almost as if I'm in another world. I might be sitting on my sofa in the middle of my living room, but if I'm writing, it's like I forget everyone else is there. I don't mean to ignore my family, but I just do. All my attention is focused on whatever story I'm working on, whatever part of the process I'm engrossed in and the rest of the world just disappears for me.

The family of a writer also has to deal with our mood swings and the fact that we sometimes do nothing but talk about our story. We get to the point where all of our interest is in our story, the characters who are in our head, and the little whispers they put into our ears. Our stories take over our lives. Sometimes we feel what our characters feel. And then there are deadlines, and those moments when we're overcome with the urge to write. We get frustrated, and it feels like there's nothing we can do about it.

Our families have to deal with all of this. Our partners, parents, and children. Extended family and friends. They have to deal with us talking about a story that they have no idea about, listen to us gripe about writer's block and complain about deadlines. They have to deal with us being locked away in a study for hours on end and being emotionally distant for God only knows how long.

So if you ask me, the family of a writer has to have the patience of a saint. After all, they have to deal with us.

Rainy Days Are My Favorite

If I'm going to write, rainy days are my favorite. Mostly because I have no reason to go outside. And that means I have no excuse not to be writing.

Because sometimes I need that extra push.

Today is one of those days, at least where I live. I'm one of those people who think grey, rainy days are the most beautiful days in the world. I don't like hot, sunny days. I'm just not built for those kind of days. I am totally built for winter. Although I don't like snow. So maybe we should say that I'm built for late autumn. Yes, that's good. Let's go with that.

I'm writing today. Well, of course I am. I'm writing this. But I'm also writing on the new series. Although I'm fighting a bit of writer's block on that as well. See, I'm one of those writers who don't do an outline of a story before I start writing. I tried that once and I just totally felt like I was locked into following that timeline. It felt stifling and made me hate the idea of writing. So now I just write. I let the story unfold as it goes, and I change things as I need to.

Maybe I should eat, that might stop a bit of the writer's block. Seeing as I haven't eaten at all today. That might be a bit of the problem. Sometimes writers forget to eat. We have this issue of getting so caught up in the story we're telling that we forget to do other things. Like the laundry or making dinner.

Perhaps I'll go sit on the porch for a while and watch the rain, smell the clean, cold air and get some new perspective. After all, new perspective can help you write a brand new world, now can't it?

When Writing Seems Really Hard

In case you're thinking of picking up writing as a hobby or as a profession, let me give you a piece of advice... writing is REALLY HARD.

Okay. It's only hard sometimes. But still.

Like today (I'm blaming the fact that it's Friday the 13th, and I'm a writer so I can do things like that), I'm having such a hard time getting started. I finished the first draft of The Fire's Princess yesterday and I've got to take a break from that world for a while before I can go back to it with new eyes. So I want to get started on a new series just to give myself some time away from Elemental Royals as well as a stretch writing something new. But it's so hard to get out of medieval fantasy and completely onto another world. So prep work! Good start, yeah?

Prep work is a pit fall. Because you can do prep work forever. Literally. I could sit in front of my computer and look up information and diagrams and pictures for days, weeks and months before I ever actually write a single thing. I an do character outlines and figure out things about the characters and the world, but I might never really put a word in those characters' mouths. So I like to do prep work as I go instead of all at once. Because if I get caught in prep work at the start, I'll never actually start writing.

Add in to that writer's block and actually coming up with ideas in the first place, and sometimes it's so hard that it's depressing.

But then there are those days when it's so rewarding. You get in that grove. You find just the right song that puts you in the perfect writing mood and you get started and there's no stopping you. It's almost like a caffeine rush and a manic state all at once. It's breathtaking and brilliant. Who needs drugs when you have the rush of writing? Of being able to craft brand new worlds and stories and people?

So sometimes writing seems really hard, but I live for those days when it's breathtaking.

New Blog Look and New Series Plan

If you haven't noticed, there's a new look to my blog. The amazing designer at Stephanie King Photography (and yes, she might be my sister) redesigned and recoded my lovely blog to look even more lovely than it did before. She listened to me complain and nit-pick for over an hour today until she got it just right. She's amazing. Go check her out at Stephanie King Photography. She's more a sports photographer, but she's awesome with the Photoshop too.

I've beaten the writer's block demon, at least for now, and I'm nearing the end of the first draft of The Fire's Princess. And while I still have a third novel in the trilogy to finish, I've also got ideas for another series to write. I think it's important to take a break every now and then to allow my creative juices to recharge. Especially when I start running out of ideas for a particular series. I know how I want The Elemental Royals to finish, but I'm at a loss right now for how it gets there. So going through and working on another story for a while will give me a bit of a break to figure out the thereto's and wherefore's of the final novel in the trilogy.

Plus, I've got A LOT of reading to do. I'm falling way behind on my reading skills. Usually I can finish a book in a couple days. I've been reading Marie Lu's Champion for a week now. That is an eternity for me. In the words of Ian Malcom, "Must go faster. Must go faster."

And it's "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" this week, which means that it's going to be a hard week for reading and writing. I'm going to be distracted by amazing movies.

Off the blog and back to the pages. Fire's Princess must be finished by the end of the month!

Happy reading, followers!

Beating Writer's Block and Writing Out of Order

This is the one thing I hate about being a writer: not knowing what to write!

Sometimes I have so many ideas that I can't get them down on paper fast enough. Other times, my brain is so completely dead that there's nothing there. And it takes forever to get anything going when it comes to my writing time. Writer's block is the absolute worst thing in the world. It's the last thing any writer wants to deal with because it makes you feel so completely useless that it isn't funny. It's staring at a computer screen at two in the morning watching the cursor blink blink blink with nothing to follow. The feeling is disheartening and sickening.

You know that old adage of "if you don't know what to write, just write" that creative writing teachers have been touting for ages? It's actually pretty good advice, especially when you have some random and off the wall prompt to get you started. I have a hard time with dialogue, but I'm great with description. So when I'm stuck, sometimes I have a standing prompt of "write a scene using nothing but dialogue." It's harder than it sounds, but it really gets the creative juices flowing.

Another thing is to write out of order. But I hate doing this! I'm incredibly obsessive compulsive about keeping things in order, so writing scenes ahead of time makes me uncomfortable. Sometimes, though, it's the only way to deal with it. It's the only way to get out of the slump of writer's block. I did that with the novel I'm working on now and it helped. I get the feeling I'm going to have to do it again, or else go completely off world and start working on a different series all together to break myself of the writer's block I'm feeling right now.

So what's the best way to deal with writer's block? How do you get through that mental stop that keeps the words dammed up?

The answer's really very simple... WRITE!