Blog Funtimes!

Check out my writer-friend Sue's blog tomorrow to see a guest post from yours truly! She is awesome and wonderful. (And a fabulous crit partner as well.)

:D L

Distance is Key

I think the two words I say most often whilst teaching are “step back.”

Sometimes its more like a shouting demand “step back!!!!!!” or a machine-gun style “step back, step back, step back” intended to make everyone in the whole class do it. Though, more often than not, it’s sung. (o/~ Step baaaaaaaaaaack o/~)

You get the picture.

Anyway, the reason for this is that when we step back from our work we are able to see what mistakes need fixing a lot easier. It is almost idiotic to work on a painting for hours without taking moments to check it from a distance. The biggest mistakes are often made within the first five minutes. And it’s hard to get around the idea of redoing everything because it’s just an inch too short. (Personal experience talking.)

With writing, distance is just as important. But here, we can’t just read from far away to get find mistakes, we have to enter time into the equation. We have to set things aside and get a clear head. This way we can come back to it and find those mistakes we just don’t see.

I’ve finished my MS and now it’s time to let it rest. I’m trying to leave it alone, but the question I have is: how long? I’m aiming for a month. And in this time I plan to read as many other books in my genre as I can lay my hands on.

What do you do to get distance from your work?

Wow. Haven't been here in a while.

Hello, blog. How are you? A little dusty? Rusty? I'm sorry. Here, let me just...

My second draft is nearing complete. My MS has a beginning, middle, and an end, and I'm kind of proud of the fact. :)

Now comes the nit-picking.

I've already gone through it over and over to get the scenes just right, the prose where I want it, the pacing correct, the voice just so. But now, now I must delete all those things that just really just get in the way. Really? Just.

I have a problem with some words. I use them way too much. And now it is time for them to go away.

Wordle helped me find "just" and "really." I spotted a few more on my own - things like:

"I started to" or "I began to" - This is a common one. My protag is always starting things instead of actually doing them. Nixing that ish.

"Took a moment to" - He's always taking moments, too. Nike was right. Just do it already.

So that's a few of my issues. Anyone else have anything to share?

The Bricks are Winning

I am most certainly not the first person to suffer through writer's block. Honestly, I don't usually call it that. Most of the time I just don't have a full enough outline or plan for the chapter I'm working on.

But this chapter is trying to kill me with it's non-existence. Every time I sit down to write, another new brick adds itself to the wall in between me and the end of my novel.

I know where I'm going. I know what needs to happen to get there. But for some reason, I find myself sitting in front of the computer, staring at the curser (not a typo), not coming up with a single word. It blinks at me in that taunting way. It knows I've not written anything since earlier in the week. It knows that, in the end, this chapter will be too short and I'll have to come back and redo it in the next draft. Which is okay, I guess. But the fact that it knows this makes me feel a little bit guilty.

So many people have solutions for writer's block. Nathan Bransford, agent extraordinaire, asked his blog friends how they coped. Is my solution in that long list somewhere? I don't know if I have the patience to find out.

Luckily, I have enough life stuff to handle in the interim. I'm sure it will go away. Brick by brick, the wall will come down. It's just a matter of time.

Welcome!

Welcome to the inaugural post of Prose Kills. This blog is dedicated to writing, reading, publishing, and other random tidbits I feel like sharing along the way.

I hope you enjoy it.

-L