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Saturday, May 31, 2014

My Muse has left the building


Oh, the pain! 

For the last few weeks I have been in a bit of a writing slump. It's not that I am having writer's block, because I have my story mapped out. The problem is I don’t have any motivation to sit down and write for hours on end.  

It’s weird because I do love to write. It’s fun. So why aren’t I doing it?

For the last few weeks I have sat in front of my computer and let my mind drift elsewhere. Not into my story as it should but drift to projects I want to get done around the house, books I want to read… etc. etc.

I have been in the middle of chapter five for weeks!

Finally, yesterday I decided that enough was enough. I needed to pinpoint what was wrong or I will never get this book finished. I have never experience this before so I wasn’t sure what was wrong now.

After a lot of self-reflection, I realized what was different now from when I have written books before. This is the first time I have seriously been looking for an agent/publisher. To be honest, this part of writing stinks. You have to have some extremely thick skin to handle the constant rejection. AND I don’t care who you are, or how great of an author you are; in this business you will be rejected left and right, whether it’s agents, publishers, or reviewers. If you don’t have a healthy dose of self-confidence cemented inside of your soul being a published author is not the right path for you.

It’s not really even the rejection that’s the problem; it’s the waiting to hear if I am rejected that is causing me difficulty. Its put me in kind of a funk.

What I need to do is compartmentalize, put my last book in a box in my mind and close it for a while so I can write. I need to stop checking my inbox for starters. This is hard when one of my goals is to send out a few submissions a week, so yes, I need to check my email.

Do you see the tough spot I am in? I want to be looking forward; yet, I have to look over my shoulder from time to time.

I am new to this. Before, I just wrote and bypassed the submission phase completely. That is no longer what I want. I feel ready to share what I have written. I need help. What do you suggest I do? Is it possible to write during the submission phase of another book? How do I get myself out of this slump?

My muse has gone on vacation and I miss her. 

4 comments:

  1. This is what I suggest. Write one sentence. Every time you sit down to write get at least one sentence out. Then if you still don't feel like writing work on something else and come back to it later.

    I've had similar slumps but they are usually because I am tired. I find that as long as I do just a little bit every chance I get--word by word my story is written. And then one day I force the one sentence out and before I know it I have a chapter written without even noticing.

    I also handled submitting differently then most. I have a list of over a dozen agents that I submitted to all at once. If theyvall turned me down I moved on to a short list of publishers. When they all said no I self published. Knowing that I had a back up plan--another avenue--helped me not stress so much about the submission phase.

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  2. Well it depends. Are they separate books or are you writing a series? If it's the latter I've been told that it's a good idea to wait and have a few books in the series written first before seeking a publisher. Also it's usually good to find an agent first. One thing to remember about agents is that the good ones won't ask for payment up front. If an agent asks for money first, don't go with them.
    Also when it comes to getting out of the writing slump, the best solution is to write even if you don't feel like it. It doesn't matter what. It could be a note, a letter, a reminder, anything. Just write.

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  3. I have my own thought: First today we start the ANWA 100 word a day challenge! YOU can do 100 words!

    Second: Set a time. I say first thing in the morning when you check your in-box. That is it . Nothing so important will happen that it an wait until 7:00 tomrrow morning when you check again. Then write 100 wds. If you feel like writing more.. do it. Then do you little house project, and if your feel like writing late at night again do it . But no email until the next day.

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    1. Diana- I too thought of the ANWA 100 word challenge. I started yesterday. :)

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