Let’s get right down to it. March, as far as writing goes, was a rough 31 days. I struggled daily to get anything done, be it plotting or editing or actual writing. No matter what I tried, my focus was not on what I wanted to do. There are a lot of reasons why – I won’t go into most of them because this is a blog about writing, not a personal therapy/venting forum – and though I could lament my lack of productivity, I am trying to use it as a learning experience.
I’ve said it before, I do not subscribe to the narrow term ‘writer’s block.’ I could write; I had ideas and plans and stories in my head. But the physical act of creating, putting more than the barest of bones onto paper, was a grueling and (I hate to say this) unpleasant time. It was brutal and depressing, staring at a blank page in my notebook or on the screen and not being able to form the words. I resigned myself, for most of the month, to simply logging the ideas I had so they would not be lost in the fog of my distraction.
That fog is beginning to lift now. I am coping better with the issues that were clogging up my thoughts and working on shunting them to the side temporarily so I can focus on other things. But there is nothing that can break up a creative jam better than a deadline.
The day before my monthly writers group meeting, I still had nothing to share for our prompt of ‘lucky charms.’ (Note” not the cereal.) I had an idea, I had some research, and a vague notion of how the story could progress. But as far as actual writing, I had nothing. Not wanting to show up empty-handed, I forced myself to sit down and write. It was slow going. I sketched out the story, but the words still would not flow. The first pebble that began the landslide was a name. I needed one for a character, one that would be different. I dug into the research, came up with a culture and background for this character, and dove into looking for her name. When I found it, the pebbles started to fall, and the downhill roll began. The name clicked, and the story came to life in my mind. It was still a slow, gradual cascade of words. I had to finish it Saturday morning, a mere two hours before I read it. I showed it to my wife and received her approval. I fixed a few errors, made some tweaks, and I was out the door soon after with printed copies of Unlucky in my bag.
Now April is here, and I am feeling less the fool than I was a few weeks ago. I have a lot of time to make up for, and I hope that I can use my spring break to whittle down the list of things I wanted to accomplish in March. I am not dwelling on the things which had clogged up my process, I am focusing on what I want done. And I am giving myself deadlines for little things, adding a little pressure to increase my pace and productivity. The larger stones are starting to move, albeit reluctantly. I’m not willing to wait for them to start rolling. I’m going to climb up and give them a shove.
And since you asked so nicely, the name I chose for my character is Celavie. It is a Haitian Creole name which derives from the French term c’est la vie. Such is life, as the saying goes.
1 – Finish writing book 2 with at least two full rounds of edits. Now that I have reached the end of the 1st draft of book 2, I am letting that story rest while I work on a few other things.
2 – Be at least halfway through writing book 3. You just read 600 words about my unproductive month. April will be better.
3 – Have at least two short stories accepted for publication. My witch story never materialized and I received two rejections in March. Disappointing, but I soldier on.
4 – Expand my search for someone to publish these YA stories. Rejections continue to pile up, more little red faces staring at me on my Query Tracker page. I am looking more into publishers that do not require agents, but given the huge number of scams and imposters, I am being extra diligent in choosing some.
5 – Average two additional blog posts a month outside of monthly updates and publication announcements. Okay, slow start with this. But it does say “average two additional blog posts a month.” I did that intentionally to give myself a little runway.
6 – Read 36 books. March reads: The Citadel of Forgotten Myths by Michael Moorcock; The Moment of the Magician by Alan Dean Foster. (total for the year – 5)