Fighting off the Blues as an #Author

Everyone has down days. It's those times when you're just not happy, the writing isn't happening, and you don't feel like you're getting anywhere in your dreams or life. Pretty harsh assessment? Yes, it is, but it's also truthful.

Now, what can we do about it?

How about chasing off that depression with the broom of perspective? For myself, I had to step back and realize a few truths when a slump hits me.

1.      I'm loved. I have a wonderful, supportive family, and great friends. It's not the number of people who care for you that matter, it's that they love you as you love them. You can get through any hard time when you have someone at your back.

2.      I'm a published author. How may in this world can say they've accomplished such a dream? I can look at my book covers and see my name printed right on the front. That's me. *grin* It's good to remember our triumphs. I've always loved writing. Now, I write and people read my books. How amazing is that!

Do you have kids? They are you. You brought life to this world. A little bit of you will go on in this world. That's no small feat. Be proud.

3.      Ups and downs are normal, and never last. Sometimes we want life to be all about the good. We want every day to be fantastic and exciting, but that's not life. Today may be boring, stressful, or downright crappy, but it won't last.

The beginning of this year was seriously bad for me, but I look back on it now and think "I got through it and here I am". Don't be discouraged if you're having a bad day, week, month; it always gets better. That's the nature of life…ever changing.

How do you beat the blues when they come around? Perspective is sometimes difficult to find in the midst of the darkness. Sometimes it just takes stopping for a quiet moment to see the light around you.

Mary Corrales

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Mary Corrales is a multi-published author of erotic romance in a several genres including paranormal and contemporary suspense. She loves to chat with readers on Twitter.

The Fourteen-Minute Blogger

The title of this post comes from the fact that as I start this, it's due in exactly fourteen minutes. I've been sitting here staring at the same blank page for the last hour and a half, waiting for Blogina, the Muse of inspiration for this sort of endeavor, to kick in. I even got really desperate and tried to send her an Iris message like they do in the Percy Jackson series. (Little tip: I don't think Iris, the Greek messenger goddess, accepts Budweiser bottle caps. Maybe next time I'll see how I make out with Heineken, since I wouldn't know where to start to get a Greek drachma in my pocket, and if I did would I really want to spend it anyway?)
White noise. Endless hissing. Writer's blo--
Nope. Not finishing that thought. Just put me in de Nile and call me Cleopatra.
The idea of not having words terrifies me. More than just about any disability or infirmity I could name, the notion I may NOT be able to open a page and start blasting out words on three and a half seconds' notice scares me beyond belief. And when it actually happens, that I can't riff off seventeen hundred words on whatever strikes my fancy, it freaks me out.
Of course, the rewards for running through that blizzard of white noise are uniquely personal to the writer. Very few other fields of endeavor offer the thrill of having the Eureka moment when the words suddenly gel, the ideas come fast and furious, and your fingers can't fly across the keyboard fast enough to get them out of your head. When it's done, hopefully you've amused, entertained, excited, thrilled, or made the reader think. Any of those is a worthy pursuit, and it's even better when you make it on deadline!
I've been knee-deep in editing, but happily, tonight will hopefully be the last of that I do for a while. (For the Writing Out Child Abuse anthology, A light In the Darkness.) I've loved editing the authors who've joined in, but I'm ready to hand this baby over and let it walk as it will. In doing that, I can get back to the thing I do best.
Whipping out the words, and to hell with writer's block!

Until next time,

Best,

J.S. Wayne

NaNoWriMo: Take The High Road

Welcome to Part 2 of my 3-part series on NaNoWriMo, aka National Novel Writing Month. Last month I talked about what NaNo is and how it can help your writing. Now that it's mid-NaNo, let's check in and see how it's going and talk about some pitfalls and how to get things rolling.

First, here's my personal word count as of this writing:


Not shabby, but not phenomenal. The accompanying picture pretty much sums up how my NaNo has been going this year. My word count has been blowing me the big raspberry almost every day this time, when every other year I'd be way ahead of the game by now. Still, aside from a few days where my count dipped below the daily goal, I've stayed on track and look to be finishing right around the end of the month.

The reasons for my personal worst performance this year are many, and some may wonder why die-hard NaNoers such as moi bother plugging along despite the myriad crap life throws our way. More on that in a moment.But first...

Five Good Reasons I Have For Quitting NaNoWriMo This Year:

1. My daughter got sick and had to go to the Emergency Room. Spent all night there with her and had to take care of her at home afterward.

2. I had edits due back to my publisher for my latest book, which naturally turned into the most involved, time-consuming batch of rewrites I'd ever encountered in my writing career.

3. I got an infection and wound up missing some work to visit the Urgent Care.

4. I had committed to write several short stories this month, plus edit and release one per week for my husband.

5. My car decided it didn't want to start this week.

None of this counts the holidays, shopping chores, work schedule, or other things that put dampers on the muse. Really, most any one of the above was probably enough to say, "Meh, forget NaNo this year. Better luck next time." No one would have made me feel bad about it. In fact, I'd have gotten nods of understanding and pats on the back for trying. After all, writing can take place all year. So it's no big deal if it doesn't get done today.

Or is it?

Five Good Reasons I Stuck With NaNo Anyway

1. My next book can't get written until I finish this one

2. I can't get royalty checks on a book I haven't written yet

3. Getting the same "flow" going in my story again will be tougher if I drop it now and pick it up later

4. The sense of accomplishment for sticking it out when the going gets tough puts a major happy in my step

5. (And most important of all): If I let my writing get derailed every time a legitimate, reasonable excuse comes along, I would probably never write another book

NaNo is a great practice ground for Taking Writing Seriously As A Life Choice. It gives us an excuse to lay things aside and put writing first. There are always things that can get in the way of this. We get sick, our cars break down, our kids and spouses need us to help take care of them, and our muses take unscheduled, unapproved vacations. As busy as all these things make us, it can be very difficult to "fit writing in" to our lives.

I like to tell people who want to go next level with their writing output to take the NaNo approach. Don't fit writing into your life; fit your life into your writing. See what happens. You needn't treat every single month as a NaNo month, and of course there are times when other things must and should take priority over the whim of our muse. But adopting the general mind set of NaNo month can set up a winning strategy that will increase your productivity all year round. Really. You'd be amazed.

So, you decided not to do NaNo this year? I have a challenge for you. Start tomorrow with a do-or-die dare to write 1667 words per day until November 30. If you do this, you will be halfway to a full length novel by the time you're through.

Next time, I'll be doing a post-NaNo wrap up post and we'll see whether I succeed in putting my money where my mouth is this year. To those of you who are mid-NaNo, hang on; we're halfway there! To the rest, what is there to lose by starting your next project tomorrow? November will come and go regardless of whether you write a book. But wouldn't it be more awesome if you had?

In The Zone with Zee: Of The Job of Writing...

Hello beautiful people!

It's the 26th of the month, and after unfortunately not being able to post for the past 2 months, I am back in my monthly Agony Zee slot here. I missed you, guys & gals! :)

So before we start waxing lyrical and passing the tissue box around, let's jump right in with this month's query. It's something I believe will resonate with most of you out there - take a look.

And if there's a query you want answered, whether pertinent to the writing craft or to the writer's life, don't hesitate to drop me a line at zeemonodee@hotmail.com

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Dear Agony Zee,

I started writing a few years ago. I love the thrill of putting words down and creating my world filled with all those terrific people I get to invent.

I got to the point where I couldn't keep this part of my life bottled up, and so I have come out, so to speak, with my intellectual inclination.

Unfortunately, I wasn't met by the accolades I was expecting to receive. I mean, all I asked for was some support, not for people's eyes to glaze over and then they'd all pat me on the head with a half-smile, the kind people reserve for over-imaginative children or that old aunt who's not quite right in her head.

Can I prove them wrong? I don't want to sound petty or mean, but they do get to me sometimes. Any words of advice?

Signed,

I am a writer!

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Dear I am a writer,

Congratulations on following your call and actually writing a book - you'd be amazed how many people decide they're writers but don't do a thing towards actually finishing a book! Hats off for 'coming out' too, though that kinda stung, innit?

Do I have words of advice for you? Let's see...

Ever wondered about all those names you see in the credits of a movie? The first time I really looked, I never thought there were so many jobs associated with making a flick. You have the directing crew, production crew, casting directors, editors, lighting crew, action/stunt team, among many others.

All these people are working towards a common goal – making a movie, and making it the best they can.

In this light, this team is not different from who you, the writer, are rolled into a one and single person. How? Here are some explanations:

You come up with a story, and you decide to flesh it – you’re doing the job of the scriptwriters.

You need people to ‘act out’ this story – you find ‘actors’ (characters for writers) same as the casting directors.

Next, you need to provide the setting for your story to take place in – that’s the same as the job of the production team.

Then, you place your characters in the setting, say, for a rehearsal of some kind. At this stage, you need props, clothing and accessories – the job of the accessories/props/clothing/hair/makeup departments.

You also need lights and other environmental details to be fitting for the tone/mood of your story – the technical crews come in here.

If you have action scenes in there, you bring in the stunt crew who will work those shots for you and the martial arts consultant and the fight choreographer (that's your research, btw!).

Finally, you carry out the story – not different from the director of the movie who wants to see his/her vision of the plot acted out. You watch the characters/actors play out each scene, then you decide whether to ‘cut’ or keep on ‘shooting’.

When the ‘shooting’ is done, you end up with a first draft, which goes in the hands of the editing crew and the post-production crew. This is the same as layering, beefing, and smoothing your draft into a finished product.

And here everyone else thought you were simply writing!

You as the writer are the whole crew of your picture, and make no mistake about it, ’coz the success of your flick at the box-office lies in your hands. Scary prospect, isn’t it?

How to make this realization work in your favour? Think like a movie crew, and take some pointers from them.

So next time you’re watching a DVD, take a minute to watch the ‘making of’ section, and if you’ve got the time and inclination, watch the whole movie a second time with the commentary on. You can learn lots just from this feature – for example, why they used this bit and not the other, how they came up with the setting, how they devised the strategy to come up with the mood and portrayal of the story, how the characterization took a life of its own, among others.

Never underestimate a movie’s potential to teach you some threads of the craft. The crew that puts the movie together is really no different than you are. Their means is visual while yours is the written word. Take a peek at how they bring it all together. You may just learn a few tricks yourself.

Hope this helps!

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

If you've got a minute, check out my blog, and my romantic suspense/espionage thriller that released with Noble Romance Publishing a few weeks ago. :)