Blog Burnout

As Josh Lanyon posted about down below, it isn't easy. I've been going through writer's slowness and posted last month about needing to declutter my life. That process has begun.

In addition to the writing problems I’ve been having, I’m suffering from blog burnout. No, not reading them, writing them. (Except here LOL. I’ve enjoyed doing the pieces I’ve written about my writing troubles. It was cathartic and I think it helped me sort out the problems.)

I did what I said in the beginning I wouldn’t do. I took on too many promotional things to do. I had blogs where even though I only had to blog once a month, when I sat down and listed them, I was writing more than one blog a week. I started off strong. Had lots of blog topics, ideas. But…the well began to run dry. Coming up with more than one thought provoking topic got harder and harder to do.

I started sitting at the desk for hours, procrastinating and staring at the blank page. I feel exceptionally guilty that I took on commitments and will be stepping out of them, but I had to do something. I’ve begun slowly backing out of blogs that I committed a blog to a month.

I also think that leaving the once a month blogs will help me to refocus on writing. Remember I talked about feeling scattered? Well having the blogs due was one thing doing that. I was having trouble writing when I knew I had a blog due because I was panicking trying to come up with a topic. Taking a step back has already helped me. In the time I’ve been back from RT, I wrote an almost 30 K novella. It’s goofy, nerdy fun and I love it. Definitely am trying to get back to the actual writing versus the promotion angle. Know I need to do both but I can’t let promo interfere with writing. So begins my new mantra.


I will declutter my writing life and my house. I will get back to the writing.

Mechele Armstrong aka Lany of Melany Logen
http://www.mechelearmstrong.com
http://www.melanylogen.com

It Don't Come Easy

I was glancing over earlier posts on the Loose Ends and considering my own State of Word, and something struck me.

Writing doesn't get easier.

I already know this, but I have to remind myself of it periodically.

Certain aspects become easier, but those are instantly replaced by other aspects that make it just as difficult -- sometimes more difficult. for example, when you first start out, writing is difficult because you don't know what you're doing. But enthusiasm and energy carry you along. Later on in your writing career, you know what you're doing, but you realize how bad you were when you started, and you'll no longer accept that, so it's inhibiting. (There is that sort of blissful period in between when you sort of know what you're doing and you don't realize how bad you are, but it doesn't last nearly long enough.) Eventually you graduate to the level where you know what you're doing -- you write well all the time -- but you're competing against your own personal best and reader expectation (and that's the stage where the madness truly sets in).

Also, once you begin to sell, the writing machine cranks into action and you have to promote as well as write -- and that takes time. Even if you hire someone to do it for you, there is a great deal that can't be handed off to anyone else. Or maybe I'm just a control freak.





Meanwhile every book has to be better than the last. Granted, "better" is subjective. To me, "better" might be I made myself write in a new genre or I tackled a subject matter I'm uncomfortable with. For the reader, "better" will have to do with whether she or he liked the characters and the story. And of course pushing myself to do different stuff, stuff that is for me "edgy", creates its own challenges, its own pressures.

THINK HARDER!!!

(And I don't mean that merely in a writing erotic scenes context.)

There's also the fact that the more you write, the more you repeat yourself. Some of it is unconscious -- repeated words and phrases -- some of it is partly conscious and partly unconscious, but you wouldn't change it if you could because it has to do with the themes and story dynamics that interest you. But you've still got to try and examine those themes and dynamics in new ways so that readers don't get bored, and that creates a certain tension -- a good tension, the tension of creative energy, but tension nonetheless.

Plus, after you've written, oh, forty books or so, you yourself begin to get a little bored. What can you do that you haven't done before (and not alienate your reader base)? That's going to be limited by what interests you. There are plenty of stories I haven't done -- I haven't set anything in a prison, for example, or written about truckers or adopting children or menage, but those ideas don't interest me (so Mom, PLEASE stop suggesting them).

But I think the thing that makes it hardest of all is our expectation that it's going to get easy after a point. And it doesn't. It's always hard work getting it right. Drawing constantly from the creative well means you have to go further and deeper the next time. I personally feel like I have to reinvent the wheel with every book.

How did I do this the last time?

There's a certain comfort in remembering that it isn't easy and just because you're struggling doesn't mean that there's something wrong. You should be struggling. Struggling is part of the process. Creativity is a well and you get the juice the old fashioned way. It's not Sparklett's Water delivered to your door every two weeks and all you need to do is push the tap. It's hard work going and back and forth from that well, and it's okay to occasionally need to rest between the journeys -- or even drink something else for a while.

When the thirst returns, so will the strength to make it to the well.

Ready to Start the Year

I'm ready to start my year now.

"But, Jet," I hear you say, "it's halfway through May."

Yes, yes, I know. What can I say, it's been a trying year so far. With the exception of one week when I went to EPICon -- and had a great time, I'm happy to say -- the year has been a string of delays, annoyances and illness. The flu especially put me down. That wasted the entire month of March.

But things are looking up! At least I choose to believe so. The current WIP is over 20K strong and my guess is that it's about a 40K book. I even have an idea about the next one. And I might even know how to fix the story I had to abandon back in January.

So wish me luck! I need it. After five years of doing this writing bit, I feel weird not having turned in a manuscript for so long *twitch*

Writing distractions

I am in plotting hell. My own fault. I should think before I put pen to paper but I don't. I like the excitement of the chase, the not knowing what the next day will bring - well I do unless I write myself into a corner. How easy it is then to be distracted.

Take this morning for instance -

Five cups of coffee - I'm now jittery.

Two spoonfuls of peanut butter - didn't help.

Nor did the four chocolate biscuits.

Lay down in another room to think - fell asleep.

Stared at the dog - he left the room.

Offered to take dog for a walk - he loves me again.

Typed three words and erased them.

Dog is now desperate since I mentioned the W word

So I give up and take him.

Maybe inspiration will strike while I'm out.

The Post-Great-Book Blues

Whenever I read a book that captivates me, I experience an odd sensation that I like to call the post-great-book blues. Hopefully we've all read books that move us, those that are exceptional reads with engaging characters, books that we are sad to see end. After I finish the last page of such a book, I usually don’t want to start reading another story right away. Which is odd. I love reading. Always have. That’s how I know the book I just finished was a good one. I’m in some sort of a reading funk after I finish it.

The same thing happens whenever a favorite TV series ends. I’ve been known to put off watching that final episode for months, even years, in order to avoid the melancholy of saying goodbye to “old friends."

Why is it hard for me to pick up another book? I think it’s a combination of several things:

- I’m sad to let go of the amazing characters I’ve just read about and delve into a new set.

- I’m afraid the next book will be a letdown.

- I don’t want to judge a new book too harshly when I might enjoy it under other conditions. It’s not fair to the book or the author since I’m in a funky mood.

- The characters were so well drawn that I feel a sense of loss like I’m saying goodbye to an old friend.

These days, this reaction is an annoyance. I only have so much time to read. I’m also working and writing and spending time with family and friends. I can’t let available time for reading slip by. So I’ve come up with a few ideas to help snap out of the post-great-book blues next time they hit:

- Try a book in another genre. Something I’d be less likely to compare to the previous book.

- Read a short story. Shorts take less of a commitment and might make a better transition to something longer. Many authors offer free shorts, so it could be a great way to try out a new author.

- Read something non-fiction. There are many subjects I want to learn more about. A quick non-fiction read between books would make a nice break from fictional stories.

- Re-read another old favorite. Reading a book that I know I’ll enjoy (but have already gone through the experience of finishing) might make it easier to get back into reading something new.

- Browse through my tremendous, ever-growing, mountainous to-read list and look for books that I’ve heard great things about and have been meaning to read for a long time. This sense of accomplishment might make it easier to jump into a new story.

- Try a multi-book series that will hopefully have in-depth characters I can enjoy getting to know through several stories.

- Instead of reading, do something fun I’ve been wanting to do. Maybe watch a couple of movies that I’ve been dying to see or a TV series on DVD I’ve wanted to check out. This will give me some distance from the book I just finished before trying another.

Am I the only one to feel like this? Anyone else have a hard time picking up another book? Have you found anything that helps you start another story?

I'd love to hear about it.

Sloan Parker
www.sloanparker.com