A Word (or two) on Writer's Block from Brodi Ashton

Okay, obviously I'm catching up on a lot of web surfing this week. But when I finally got a chance to read this blog by Brodi Ashton it made my day in an awesome way.

The whole post is totally worth it but I'm going to have to copy the song and print out the lyrics to put by my computer.

Go check out "The Writer's Block Song" :)


Thanks Cranberry Fries for bringing it to my attention!

On Deadline

Can't remember own name.

See you in August.

50,000 Words and Miles to Go

Well, it happened. This afternoon I finally crossed the 50,000 word finish line that had been evading me for the last 2 months. The only problem is I have now blatantly confirmed what I'd been suspecting for the last 20,000 words: the story is far from complete. Darn it.

I still have a couple of major scenes to write and my 50,000 word project will probably end up being more like a 70,000 word mountain. Oh well. It's a good thing I actually like the story, or something, so I have to finish it out just to see the good guys win. (So to speak- "winning" is an arbitrary term when it comes to my endings.)

I am still determined to get this sucker finished in the next few weeks, so here we go. It's always nice to know the finish line is moving away from you the closer you get to it. No wonder so many writers (myself included) are psychotic.

There is no rest for those of us who here voices in our heads. Back to the grind stone I go. Wish me luck!

Skipping All the Way to the Presses

Happy Printing Day everybody! There is a minor celebration going on in my head today because Sharing Through Song: My Eternal Family goes to press today. Hooray!

This year was pretty tough with some very tight deadlines and unexpected challenges, but my editors and I have been working our tails off to make sure we gave you awesome content. Here's hoping that it all worked.

Now back to my regularly scheduled writing projects. :)

Weird Writing Quirks

Ok, I’m in the thick of deadline mania at the moment. Makes you even wonder why I’m blogging, right? Well, here’s the deal I was trying to concentrate on the creative issues at hand and found my mind wandering instead to the other things I have to keep at hand while I’m trying to be creative.

Right now, I’m suffering from a terrible case of hand-to-mouth disease. I just went on a frantic scavenger hunt through my kitchen trying to find something to fulfill the munchy craving that always hits when I’m on deadline or in the middle of a more creative streak. What did I find? Well, if you could see me now (don’t please, I didn’t shower today) you’d see this weird little row of pastel objects lining the top of my laptop keyboard. Yep, I have a row of flavored mini-marshmallows lined up like good little soldiers ready to sacrifice themselves in the name of creativity. The bag of marshmallows sits to the side of me so I can restock my neat little row whenever I need to.

Now, go ahead, ask me if I even like flavored mini-marshmallows. Um, not so much. But hey, they were open, handy, and had less calories than the bag of M&M’s I really wanted to line up on my keyboard. If my husband catches me, I’m going to get some very strange looks and a lot of backlash teasing. But I know you understand.

Here’s a few of my other quirks.

Music- must have, especially if the kids are in school. (Only 6 more days! Yeah!) The faster I have to work, the faster the music needs to be.

Miscellaneous, half-toppling stacks and piles made of anything that happens to wander onto my desk as well as those things I’m currently working with for my project. I can’t stand not having something I “might” need at the tip of my fingers when I’m working. My desk currently has some very precarious piles of papers and books, one marshmallow shooter holding them in place (my son saw the marshmallows out), a stack of headache, sinus and allergy medications, one water bottle, a half-dog-chewed prized McDonald’s toy, the cordless phone, my scriptures (the case is here, too. . . somewhere), a vase of Wal-Mart clearance roses I bought yesterday to give me something to look at besides my piles of papers (I also told myself the manuscript had to be done before the flowers died or I’d have to look at them dead until I did finish), a stack of coupons I never got around to clipping, and a printer that is buried beneath the piles of papers but I can still get to the finished printing job so it’s no big deal.

Just behind the marshmallows on my laptop are a pencil sharpened at both ends and a pen that has been chew halfway down to the writing end. (I promise I didn’t start it, but hey since it was already ruined it’s legal to chew on it in frustration, right?)

When I need to work, really work, I must finally detach myself from every distraction, sort of. I have to take my minicomputer (no internet access) to a very public place. Preferably one where I have to be, but don’t want to be involved in: gymnastics lessons, dentist appointments, family reunions, enrichment meetings (Gasp! Did I really say that?). See, in these types of situations it becomes a matter of life or death that I actually work, looking very productive and busy or I will have to socialize. Socializing is a fate worse than death in my opinion. If I don’t have any have-tos of that nature then the next best bet is a restaurant or public library. Not in one of those quite back cubbies, right up front and center where I have to keep busy in my public performance as a dedicated starving artist. Hey, it works for me

Some days I have to take a nap or a drive to get my subconscious to relax and actually think again.

Some days I can only think straight first thing in the morning.

Other days I can’t think straight until I’ve exercised, read my scriptures, and showered.

Some days I stare at the computer all day and have absolutely no idea if I’ve actually accomplished anything at the end of the day.

Some days I need to be inspired by a good book before my own creative juices flow uninhibited by self doubts.

Some days those same books simply depress me.

I have to schedule times when I have “permission” to check my email or surf for information I need or I will compulsively check my mail every hour minutes and become hopelessly lost following interesting (but not pertinent) research trails.

Notice, nowhere on the list do I actually have to do the housework. But, I will feel guilty about it, letting thoughts of it distract me enough to build a list of things I will definitely take care of tomorrow. Like the dishes that have been sitting there since, um, I think the day before yesterday. Could be longer. I’m a big fan of disposable dinnerware.

There are those famous writers we all hear about that can only write after sharpening so many pencils, or with a certain color of ink, or in a certain place, etc. Huh, does that mean if I’m ever famous someone is going to come along and say, “That’s it! The key to greatness is munching on flavored mini-marshmallows while you write.”

I sincerely hope not.

So, it’s your turn. Tell me some of your weirdest writing moments or rituals and give me one more reason to compulsively check my blog instead of writing my next chapter. My editors will love you for it!

Piffle on Patience

If you know anything about me, you probably realize that I’m scatterbrained and more than a little distracted. Sometimes this is a blessing, sometimes it’s a frustration. One of the areas where the water gets a little muddy is patience.

Oh, I don’t mind things like waiting in line, or waiting for the bills to show up, or even waiting in many other things. See, I’m easily distracted, so I forget how long I’ve been waiting. But unfortunately when my brain catches a hold of something it considers very important, it suddenly becomes very focused and impatient. It probably assumes that if it doesn’t keep reminding me every minute of the day I’d forget about what I’m waiting for all together. Sometimes that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

So, here’s my problem. I’m being very impatient right now and it’s driving me (and my brain) crazy.

I’m waiting to hear back from the publisher about my latest manuscript. It’s been longer than their stated response time, but not long enough to be completely lost in the paperwork shuffle. I’m a big chicken. I figure when I look at the time frame from their point of view there’s nothing to worry about. From mine, well…. If I dare to ask what’s up with it, I’m afraid they’ll say, “Oh, you didn’t get that email? We told you we couldn’t publish it months ago!” Or worse, “What manuscript?” So I keep waiting, biting my nails to the quick and showing my OCD side by checking my email constantly and recounting the weeks to make sure I didn’t make some gross error in my time calculations.

Multiply that by the anxiety I’m beginning to feel about my next project. I have a book to write for next year’s Primary curriculum and I still have no outline! I have a small window of time from getting the official theme into my hands to sending back out a finished manuscript. That window is swiftly becoming teeny tiny. The materials for 2009 are very late this year, my publishers are getting antsy and adding an additional measure of nervous jiggle to my leg as I surf the net and check with everyone I’ve got scouting for its arrival, yet again. This behavior usually occurs after about every seventh unsuccessful email check.

So today I say: piffle on patience. Whoever said it was a virtue must be shot! (Wait… that wasn’t part of the beatitudes was it?) Obviously there is some sick and twisted humor behind this concept. It’s just great if you happen to live as a hermit on top of some mountain somewhere. What would you be waiting for, anyway? But some of the rest of us have gone from grey to blue to purple to ready-to-pass-out from holding our breath and waiting to find out which anticipated bomb is going to drop in our lives next.

I think I need oxygen.
I think I need migraine medication and a strong sedative.
I think I should be losing weight from all this stress.
I think I need some answers all ready!

Let me say again. Piffle on patience.

The Art of Procrastination

Why is it that we procrastinate? I seem to have perfected nothing else in my life but the ability to put off for tomorrow, or the next day, those things which should be accomplished today.

Yes, even as I sit here typing this I am procrastinating a deadline.

Why is that? Writing is the thing that I love most in the world. Generally, it doesn’t even matter what the assignment is, I just love the fact that I can sit down at my computer and create something with my words that someone else needs. I do have a selfish streak, I know. There are days when I just can’t write another technical word. I miss the creative side of me that doesn’t pay when I’m bogged down with “real” writing assignments. Still, even when my time is my own, and I can write those projects that fuel my soul, I have a grand tendency to procrastinate.

I think part of it has to do with the negative influences we let into our lives. I put off the task because I’m afraid my best won’t be good enough in some manner. Whether it be money, creativity, what my editor or employer thinks of me, or how much house work I’ve neglected this week, a million little negative thoughts can all jumble together into one big stumbling block of procrastination.

I’ll do it just as soon as I check my email; that assignment I’ve been waiting on may have come through.
I’ll do it just as soon as I give the dog a bath, I can smell her from here.
I’ll start again just as soon as I finish jotting down the thought I had for another project.
I can’t do it now; the kids will be home in 10 minutes.
I’m getting a headache; I can’t look at this screen for another minute.
I just remembered I haven’t balanced the checkbook, scrubbed the grout in the bathroom, or had that oral surgery, for months now. I’d better take care of it while I’m still thinking of it.
There’s a piece of pie in the refrigerator that is calling my name, I simply can’t concentrate until it’s gone.

The list of excuses could go on and on, but I’d really like to get to the bottom of this procrastination problem. It seems the more I put something off, the less energy I have for it. I put it off again and the nasty cycle begins all over again until I dread the very idea of the thing but I have to do it or else. So, dear reader, what is your favorite procrastination tool and your theory about why we procrastinate?

Author Interview

After spending a significant part of last week ill (I promise it had nothing to do with the shower thing). I'm dashing around trying to put my personal life back together as well as trying to catch up on all those nasty deadlines that snuck up on me while I was lying in bed. I've had some great thoughts I'd love to share (like the dream I had where I was editing my own dream) but sadly they'll have to wait until I can come up for air again.
In the meantime my wonderful friend Marsha Ward just posted an author interview she did with me on her blog. So... while you're waiting for me to start rambling again on my own blog, you can wander on over and see what I rambled about to Marsha.
http://marshaward.blogspot.com/
Thanks, Marsha, for thinking of me- it was fun!
Back to the grindstone.

Freeze Tag

Once upon a time in a reality far, far, away I was tagged by a few friends to complete special blogs. With my quest assigned, the evil Procrastinator launched his counter-attack. In the past month and a half I have been assaulted by a family crisis, an anniversary vacation and his most effective servant: the destructive deadline of doom. I completed the most recent Sharing Through Primary Songs for 2008 in record time. From start to finish I spent a total of three weeks breathing, eating and sleeping primary curriculum. My children think I've turned into the wicked witch of the west and swear I can call forth an evil band of flying monkeys at the mere mention of "What's for dinner?" I have also been known to burn holes straight through them with my laser beam eyes at comments such as "You're still not done? How hard can it possibly be?"

Needless to say my triumph came at a cost. The color of my kitchen floor changed from white to dingy grey (what was I thinking having a white floor anyway?). My hair saw this as a new fad and added a whole new batch of grey strands. My waistline expanded by 7 pounds all attributed to the 7 pounds of peanut butter M&M's I ate my way through while staring at my computer screen.

I have now returned to my regularly scheduled reality. Yes, that includes this blog. In the next few weeks I will be catching up on answering all the interesting tag blogs my friends have requested of me. I won't pass the tag along however, since I've had them in a holding pattern for a month most everyone I know has already had their turn. By all means if something catches your eye and you haven't played yet- have at it!