Location Makes All the Difference (Or I Might Just Be a Crazy Writer)

Over the course of the last month, I've had trouble staying focused. Edits are coming along nicely for The Convict and the Cattleman (due out in February from Lyrical Press), but I had no motivation when it came to doing pre-edits for The Wrong Brother's Bride (due in May from LP). I'm also trying to get myself geared up to release the last book in the Legends & Lovers series this fall. Yet, I've had almost no motivation.

Never fear, I figured out the problem.

In 2012, a tornado struck the town where my in-laws live. A tree fell on their house and after a lot of drama that made me roll my eyes and mutter about how crazy they can be, they finally got their #$%& together and moved into a double-wide on the farm they own, away from the crazy little town I disgustingly call Parasite (which sort of sounds like town's actual name).

They purchased a new recliner for my father-in-law. The old one sat in their old, tree-smashed house, which was livable and only leaked a little. I don't think any water leaked on the recliner, because it was pretty much sitting in the same place for, like, 7 billion years, even after the 'nado.

So the old recliner sat there all sad and forlorn because no one sat in it anymore. And one day my husband asks his parents if we can have the recliner, because hobos wouldn't sit in his, hand-to-God. We cart the recliner home and it takes up space where the old one did.

Now, I have this big ol' cushy armchair that I've sat in ever since we moved into the house. It's ugly as sin and broken down, but trust me, hobos would love to sit in it. It has years of accumulated crap under the cushions, it's been chewed on by dogs, nursed me back to health when I felt poorly, and has served as a home to wayward spiders on occasion (it's called character, people). This is the chair where I began my first novel after I started writing again in the fall of 2008, this is the chair where I finished my last novel months ago. I share this chair with my sidekick/doggy editor PeeWee, but lately it's been so hot and my husband has been working nights, so I let PeeWee take my chair and I sit in the recliner formerly of the Parasite town.

I've done some writing, but with my WIP, I was, um, sort of at work when I started it. And I've done more writing on it at work than anywhere else. Pre-edits were coming due for The Wrong Brother's Bride and I slogged through them with hardly any enthusiasm while my charming furbaby curled in my chair and I moved this way and that in the recliner, trying to get comfortable.

*Not the actual chair.
Image courtesy of
Detanan/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It's the recliner! The recliner is the reason I can't write or edit! It's sucking everything that's good and writerly right out of me. This demonspawn chair from Hell is costing my talent.

The only reason I was sitting in the chair and the dog was in mine was because my husband said, "Don't let the dog sit in my chair." Well guess what, Buster? I'm reclaiming that which is mine. The dog is going to have to sit in your chair, or I'm afraid the writing process will abandon me completely!

Devil chair, begone! (Here's hoping I find my mojo again.)

When I'm not here, I'm blogging at Have Novel, Will Edit, hanging on Facebook, G+, or Twitter.

Trick Yourself Into Writing More

Right now, I’m pretty sad. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s a blood sugar issue or I miss my girlfriend or I’m depressed because I haven’t yet won a Nobel Prize for literature. No matter the cause, I’m using this little ball of pain bouncing and grinding its way through my chest. I’m using it to write.

Two years ago, I started a new book for one reason: I was sad. On a Friday night, I had hoped to see some good friends, but they couldn’t make it. Nothing Earth shattering, but it stung. So that night I took that little pill of pain, used my suddenly free time, and started writing Poisoned Star. I concentrated on a futuristic universe filled with powerful starships and even more powerful aliens. I wrote about a boy in love who longed to see a girl who felt no one could love her.

Whenever I feel sad, I write. Now don’t get me wrong. This isn’t about me trying to expunge the feelings. I’m not out to write some cathartic poetry filled with depressing imagery. No, I want to take this bit of pain and use it as a motivation. For whatever reason, when I’m sad, I write well. It sharpens my focus and helps me concentrate. That might not be true for everyone.

Being a writer routinely comes down to discipline, but knowing yourself and when you write best can be incredibly useful. For example, I’m a morning person. I know I can be most productive before noon.

Last year, I wrote three novels in about three months. Each piece was longer than eighty thousand words. Sure, they were rough drafts and will require a lot of tinkering like pretty much all rough drafts.

How did this happen? I admit it, I’m a workaholic, but even then we’re talking about writing six or seven pages a day while teaching three classes and working half-time as a tutor. I was able to get this much done for one simple reason: I had my mornings off.

I didn’t go to work until one o’clock which meant I could wake up around seven and write until ten. Those three hours meant I accomplished a lot. I also trimmed back on my free reading and I did some writing at night too, but I knew when I could be most productive. When that time opened up, I took advantage of it in a big way.

It’s not just time you can use. Place can be a pretty big deal too. Like right now, I’m sad, but I’m also sitting in a library. This is a great place for me to write because I can enjoy the white noise. The librarians are chatting, people are typing at the bank of computers, pages are getting turned, and a printer is beeping somewhere behind me. I like white noise. This helps.

I’ve had students who say they write better with music or when they’re hungry. There are a thousand variables you can use to manipulate to trick yourself into writing more.

Kick the writer's block habit…

Welcome to my first post.
I have joined this group with the intention of sharing the golden nuggets of wisdom I've been collecting on the journey to getting published. Are they 14k or fool's gold?
I’ll let you decide..

One of my critique group members posted a question regarding writer's block, here are my thoughts:

Writer's block is an expense most of us can't afford. A frustrating stall in our progress that leaches our productivity and often snowballs into self-doubt. With a full time job and an even fuller family life, every minute I spend in front of the computer has to count. So, I needed real life tools to use when I 'hit the wall'.

I believe writer's block occurs when you have played out a scene to its fullest and don't know where to go next, and/or you have grown bored with the sagging middle of your story. (If you are bored, the reader will be too.)

First things first, make sure you have a goal in mind. It is easy to loose your step if you have no clear destination. You don't have to know which path you're going to take, but you do have to know where you are headed.

With that in mind, if I just can't figure out what comes next, sometimes simply switching the POV is enough to reenergize the story.

If not, I break out the big guns. I like to throw a runaway bus at my characters. Usually, a runaway bus…on fire…full of nuns will cure any stagnate story. It doesn't have to be a bus, but you get my drift. Blindside your characters in the most unexpected time, which is NOW because if the writer isn't expecting it, the reader definitely won't be either.

Since I have started using these tools, I have not suffered from writers block at all, which is fantastic, because I used to get it so bad it would stop me for days, even weeks. Then I would loose the thread of my story and the whole thing would unravel.

If you are stuck right now and decide to throw a runaway bus at your characters, let me know how it works out for you.

Or if you have a great cure for writer's block, post if here so we can all keep writing.

Quote of the Day:

"If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun."
-Katharine Hepburn

In the Zone with Zee: Of Plots...

Hey beautiful people

26th of the month again, and I'm back on Tabby's Nocturnal Nights for the monthly Agony Zee advice column. I received a very peculiar question this month, one that got me thinking once I got over my 'horror'. Yes, this query mentions something horrible, to be absolutely prohibited in the world of writing. What is it? Read on for today's column:

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Dear Agony Z,


I have been fiddling with a plot for a while now and I’m stuck while at two-thirds of the way.


I am not finding any good way to finish the story with this plot, and instead of ditching it completely, I have found a way to salvage it.


I am simply going to add in a new plot to take me through the remaining third.


Can you please advise as to how to merge the two plots seamlessly?


Signed,


Lost in plot

*****

Dear Lost in plot,

Please, please, please – STOP right there!

Do not, I repeat, do not, merge plots together!

One of the worst mistakes a writer can make is to go – oh, let me just add a plot here to perk it up.

Just like makeup only hides the flaw and doesn’t address the real issue, you too will not be addressing the issue and will simply aim to mask it.

A plot is something that should be carried through from start to end. If it isn’t working, there is a problem with your plotting, and adding in a new plot will only double your trouble as you’ll be doing the same thing with the second plot.

There is no masking of a plot, only working it.

Understand the concept first. Analyze your own story. Find avenues to address your problems. Play the 'what if' game, and think about what could happen in your story if...
Stuck in a corner? Turn around, look at the one-way street in which you got blocked, and walk back. Get to the entryway of this road, and from here look before you and shoot tangents - imagine you're in a white world with no perspective: shoot 5-6 tangents from there and see where they lead you to.

Every plot had a logical ending. Distance yourself from the work, and look at the global picture of this plot - where does it start, and where does it end? Work this as a layer over your story, to get to the resolution of your own original plot.

Then consider how to resolve your pending story. Adding in a new plot is not a solution.

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Got a question for Agony Zee? Drop her a line at zeemonodee@hotmail.com with your concern/issue/dilemma.

Zee Monodee
Author of stories about love, life, relationships... in a melting-pot of cultures

Zee is an author who grew up on a fence - on one side there was modernity and the global world, on the other there was culture and traditions. Putting up with the culture for half of her life, one day she decided she'd stand tall on her wall and dip toes every now and then into both sides of her non-conventional upbringing.
From this resolution spanned a world of adaptation and learning to live on said wall. The realization also came that many other young women of the world were on their own fence.
This particular position became her favourite when she decided to pursue her lifelong dream of writing - her heroines all sit 'on a fence', whether cultural or societal, in today's world or in times past.

Hailing from the multicultural island of Mauritius, Zee has been writing for close to a decade and has had 3 novels published so far (under other pen names). After a stint in the publishing industry, on the 'other side of the fence' as an editor, her goal today is to pen wholesome, fulfilling stories and help fellow authors, whether as critique partner or as freelance editor.

Find out more about her by checking her blog