Writing during the Quarantine

Time, time, time.

Since March I have all the time in the day to write. For the most part I have spent my time equal parts writing, moaning about not writing, and wondering why my organic self cannot work like a machine. However it has not been a complete waste like I infer. These are the things I have done during quarantine;

• The Dragon’s Mate: I wrote, edited and self-published this novella in two months.
• Matt and Rose: A novelette that is just about ready.
• Those in the Forest: Plan for a supernatural story about an escapee from a recluse cult. Only has a few thousand words have been written. Probably won’t be done for at least a year.

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How to Overcome Writer’s Block Once and For All: Jerry B. Jenkins

Writing Community Lingo: Writer Problems. Diane Callahan

 

My arch nemesis

Overcoming writer’s block

Still burnt out :(

It’s almost the end of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and I’m getting sick of 57 hour work weeks. I’m still burnt out from before and I don’t know when I’ll return to writing. What’s more is that I’m irritated with myself about not writing and all the lost time and because of that I get more pissed off. When the festival finishes I don’t know what I’m going to do with my time.

But I think I’m slowly coming out of my funk. I’m thinking of my stories more as opposed to not at all, but I’m still not at the stage where I want to do anything with them. Maybe it’ll take another month or so for me to get over it.

 

Still got writer’s block :(

It’s been months and I still haven’t had the desire to write 😦 Since the terrible two weeks of jet lag I got in May I seem to have been reset for not writing. I know I will get back into it eventually, but I do not know when 😦

Tor.com and other things

It’s getting closer! I’ve had serious writer’s block since returning to Australia 😦 It’s been almost two weeks and I think I’m just over my jet lag 🙂 Finally. I’ve been constantly checking the Tor.com submission page to see where my book is at and the speed at which this is going is having me a bit concerned. Either they have a lot of people going through the stories or they had a lot of submissions that didn’t meet the criteria and are culling through them like a hot knife in butter.

I wonder what they are going to say about my story. Is it shit and needs to be tossed into a dumpster and set on fire? Or is the best thing they had ever read? There is no in-between! That being said, if it gets rejected I’ll do a few more drafts and then self-publish it.

Tomorrow I’m going back to Queensland to my parent’s place and they don’t have regular internet – by choice! They say they have no use it. Like what are you!? Anyway, maybe that can be a benefit for me seeing as though I haven’t written anything since returning. Maybe I can finish all those half done first drafts.

Stalled with your writing? Go back and edit what you’ve done.

So I’m working on this new book/duology storyline. I have major events near the beginning defined, but I do not have as much nearer the end. I know it’s a good story so I’ve gone ahead and started writing under the assumption that I’ll work out the kinks as I go.

Well, every so often I come across a part in the story where I do not know what is going to happen next or when to put a certain scene in so it’s a little like writer’s block. To fix this and to maximise my time I go back and edit what I’ve done. I find that it gets me re-inspired to continue my story. I think it works because I’ve gone back through my storyline and have figured out a way to re-work something or add something new or find a fault that needs to be fixed 🙂

Also, I think that with this story by the time I’ve finished it’s going to be a case where I’ve already edited large chunks so that my first draft won’t be such a dumpster fire 🙂

Two hours of inspiration for writers with writers block