Well, it's finally happened. I thought I'd escaped it, but apparently I haven't. It caught up with me just when things quieted down a little bit in my life. Just my luck!
What am I talking about?
I've stumbled into a horrible case of writer's block, of course. It's been going on for days!
I've tried everything. First, I just sat and stared at the computer screen at the scene where I'd last left my characters. But nothing happened. They didn't seem interested in communicating right then. Fine. I wasn't worried. I figured they'd get bored and start talking to me. But they didn't.
Then, I went for a walk to clear my head. Well, my head cleared ... completely. Absolutely nothing came into it.
Next, I tried outlining plot points (I know ... it amazed me, too! Who does that? I was desperate). But nada. Nothing. Zilch.
Finally, I tried the old standby suggested by about every creative writing teacher and/or article ever written. I just started typing something. Anything at all. I hoped that it would turn into something. Oh, it was something, all right. Something awful.
I deleted it.
Now I've been trying to decide what could be behind this sudden block. (My sister the psychologist would be so proud of me exploring my "motivation.") I've decided the problem is two-fold: First, I have to change the playlist that I listen to when I'm writing. This is serious, people. I have to remove that ridiculously catchy (but old) Carly Rae Jepsen song, "Call Me Maybe." The beat leads to inspired bouts of crazy dancing, but absolutely no writing. Just ask my son who literally turned red today at the hair salon when I couldn't control myself when that song came on the radio. That goes double for "Stand Up" by James Durbin. My inner air guitar goddess appears when that song comes over my headphones, yet strangely enough, no characters have ever been created when I've rocked out.
Secondly (and I suspect this might be the real problem), I have three stories I've been working on, and all three interest me. Nothing significant gets done on any of them before I'm called away by a plot point from another story that suddenly demands my attention. After I finally get back to the first story, I've completely forgotten where I was going with that idea, and I'm back to square one. I return to the second story, and now I've forgotten where I was going with that story. You see the pattern, I'm sure.
Not very efficient.
Therefore, I will concentrate on one at a time. I promise on a stack of Harry Potter books.
The only remaining problem is which of the three I'm going to choose. I love them all. I really do. To make my choice, I will be scientific. I will list the pros and cons of each story. I will weigh the likelihood of which story will appeal to the largest audience. I will ...
Oh, who am I kidding? I will fall back on an oldie, but a goodie. Ready? Here we go!
Eenie, meenie, miney ... MO!
Julie
P.S. I just wrote something. Finally! Hurray!
