Why is it that certain paragraphs just don't want to be written?
I can get stuck for days on one sentence. Usually for me, it's an action that just doesn't want to happen. For instance in my WIP I have the heroine watching a woman she's stalking finally make a trip to the ladies room, like Heroine has been waiting for her to do for half an hour.
Great! Off you go, Heroine. Follow. Time's a-wasting. If you don't go in there and roll that chick for the Ooky Artifact of What-the-hell-we're-doing-here, Bad Things will ensue.
But d'ya think she'd move? Nope.
For some reason, I just couldn't (or wouldn't) type "I slid my empty glass onto the table and followed." Or anything remotely resembling such.
Does this happen to anyone else out there?
I mean, I've fixed her now. Wrote the whole scene last night. Ladies room mayhem ahoy. But this stalled me for half a day.*
And you know what? I bet there's something wrong with it. I bet when revision time comes, I'll be picking at that scene. My subconscious -- and those who've met me know I'm the last person to call on woo-woo psychic explanations for my own idiocy -- my subconscious knows there's something up with that scenario, and spat the dummy of progress right out of the cot.
Well, good on you, subconscious. You are obviously cleverer and far more insightful than I. How about you shut the hell up and let me write? :)
Anyway. In other news, the blog stumble continues. Behold some juicy interviews, at EllzReads and Kylie Griffin's blog, and there's a free book up for grabs at each.
Also, if you're lucky enough to be Canadian, SHADOWGLASS is already shipping from amazon.ca, even though official release isn't until Tuesday. You guys are on the ball! No such early love from amazon.com so far as I know...
*This is not my record, btw. I once stalled on a novel manuscript for six months because a character wouldn't walk down a flight of stairs. True.
Subconsciouses can be so unhelpful. Sure, they'll tell you that something's wrong, but they won't tell you HOW to fix it! Grr... And "suck less" doesn't count as telling how to fix something ;-)
ReplyDeleteSadly, I am not Canadian ::Sulks::
ReplyDeleteAnd about the writing, I am still not published, not even close... But it does happen to me, too... But you will see, everything will come together sooner or later... If not, you WILL make it work. Right? RIGHT! =P LOL
I love the note at the end... I stopped writing a story cause main character was turning out to be whiny as hell =P LMAO
Book realease in Australia
ReplyDeleteWhy oh why do we in Australia need to wait until May. Have to order from the US to get any earlier.
Oh, yeah. I've done that, been stuck for days or weeks on one tiny paragraph. Usually it's description. Every time I stop to describe something, it feels forced and I just can't seem to get the flow right.
ReplyDeleteOh, so it's not just me? Excellent. I feel less like a fool now :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think that's the trick. Sometimes you just have to write on, even though you think it's no good, and trust yourself to fix it in the end.
ReplyDeleteWhiny characters deserve a bullet :) maybe you'll be able to beat it out of them !
Re: Book realease in Australia
ReplyDeleteYep, it sure can be frustrating... if you're dead keen, try one of the indy romance stores, like Intrigue in Canberra, Rosemary's Romance in Brisbane, Rendezvous in Melbourne etc. They can do mail orders. But sometimes, given the import prices, it's still cheaper to order from Amazon or Book Depository...
Actually, now that we've established that your subconscious has something in common with my Eejit Brain, that unfortunately makes you MORE of a fool ;-)
ReplyDeleteEek. It sure can be hard. Often I just write something approximate so I can get on, and come back and fix it later.
ReplyDeleteI've never resorted to marking it "insert description here" but that seems to work for some people :)
Erica,
ReplyDeleteSometimes I stumble a bit, but usually on my drive home from my regular job, things get worked out. I'll be listening to the news or such on the radio and thinking on the story and troubling scene and things will come together. Then I have to commit it to memory (think it through in detail a couple if times) because, well, it's hard to write while driving.
And you're right, often in the revision process, it's an area that will be remembered and might need a bit of tweaking.
So, no, you're not alone in this.
Terry
Oh, good :) iot's very annoying that something so stupid can put me off. Big plot problems I don't mind. Those I can figure out. BUt the whole 'don't wanna cross the room' thing? Drives me crazy :)
ReplyDelete