Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Writer's Block

For the past few weeks I've been dealing with Writer's Block, a pesky imp that lurks in dark places and chases away the Muses. I haven't been able to think of any way to bring certain elements of my novel together smoothly and I blame this nasty little customer. It bites at my ankles and taunts me a lot, trying to get me to feel like a complete failure. Then I read Scott Oden and George RR Martin's blogs and apparently every author has had to deal with orcs and imps and other kind of writing fiends, so I know I'm not alone. Luckily last night a Muse made a quick visit to my brain to drop off an idea. I'm excited about it and hopefully something will come of it. Stay tuned.

P.S. Finish your novel, Scott Oden! Some people want to read it!!

9 comments:

Scott Oden said...

Not only have they made off with my brain, they've decided to use it as a ball in a nasty game of rugby (orcs vs. gnomes . . . orcs have bulk on their side, but a terrified gnome can literally haul ass; little buggers are hard to catch).

I could be a shameless tease and send you what I have so far . . .

Meghan said...

You could! You SHOULD!! I wanna read!!

Scott Oden said...

I live to serve. Check your IGN account (it's the only email addy I have for you).

Crystal said...

Shameful self-promotion here...but I just posted another of my creative writing exercises up on my blog. Maybe doing some creative brainstorming will help you get out of the rut? The Sep. 6 entry also has another tool that could be useful. They're meant especially for writers in progress--none of that beginners writing prompts sort of thing.

Love reading your bits about Greece. I'm writing on the Romans so it all intertwines. Did you find a trip to Sparta?

Excalibor said...

Cheer up! I got a writer's block as well, and, at the same time, I got bitten by lots of plotbunnies (one of those times where you'd wish to be able to simply "dump" your idea into a novel like a snap: snap! voilĂ !

sigh... :-)

The good side of this? While I struggle to get the Ionian Revolt done, I have already found my Nanowrimo novel for this year :-)

Maybe the Muses did really come and visit, only that I didn't notice... :-P

best regards and wishes!

Meghan said...

Scott:

THANK YOU! YOU'RE AWESOME!!

Crystallyn:

You're map idea is really helpful. I'll try it today! :)

Excalibor:
I can't wait to read your story I'm very interested in the time period so I hope you'll finish it soon. :)

Gabriele Campbell said...

I got procrastination gnomes. I need to have a word with Constance about those buggers. She can send them to Scott who can feed them to his Orcs.

Scott Oden said...

Nooo, my Orcs are busy. They're keeping me from finishing :/

I have two words (actually, one piece of profanity and an acronym): @#!%ing RPG's! That's all I'm sayin' . . .

You're welcome, Meg ;)

Wynn Bexton said...

Hi, I find I get good ideas to prompt me by browsing through other novels that are on similar subjects, paying attention to the action scenes, for instance. I make a lot of notes by hand before typing them into the computer and this also helps me get over staring at a blank screen which gets daunting.