Wednesday 3 July 2013

IWSG July - Drowning a little!

OMG how can it be July already, blah, blah, blah. I have no idea how these first Wednesdays come around so quickly! I'm glad they do, though, because it's the one time in the month I can really make time to hop around and say hi - and I'm so glad that people do the same for me!

On with the insecure stuff...

Firstly, I have no excuse to feel insecure because I had a long-short accepted by Woman's Weekly which buoyed me up no end!

However (and yes, there has to be one of those)... I've lost my way with the novel. It wasn't flowing - I felt as though I was wading through mud. My characters weren't speaking to me and - I don't know - I think I wasn't feeling it. I also began to worry that what I was writing wasn't original enough - but I think I've got myself over that one. The result is that I have now started AGAIN - having said I was going to plough through to the end come what may. I've started differently and the main characters are different - for both my modern day and time-slip parts.

I'm more excited about it now, but my day job is so busy at the moment that I can't seem to find the energy to write. I feel drained of all creativity (probably because I'm using it all on a Year 6 production of School of Rock and, believe me, those kids know how to drain...) I think the teacher and I are going to have to get up there and perform it for them.

Anyway, a lovely two weeks in Zakynthos are looming at the end of the month when I will recharge my batteries. I hope to come back here on the first Wednesday of August raring to go.

How are you doing? I'll be popping along to find out.

Thanks for being here!

And...

Thanks as always to Alex J Cavanaugh for starting this group. You can find the full list on his blog but I'm not pasting it here because it gets longer all the time!

26 comments:

jaybird said...

Congrats on your piece getting picked up by Women's Weekly! That is definitely something to celebrate.

I understand that drowning feeling, as this past month I've been so consumed with business and commitments with my girls I have not had time to write- at all! It's making me miserable though and I am going to try to remedy that as soon as possible.

Hopefully you will come back after vacation feeling re-energized and not so drained anymore.

Steven said...

Balancing day work with creative work is a constant challenge. If you figure out the secret let me know...

Unknown said...

oh, a holiday on the horizon. Very jealous.
Congratulations on the short story, and stick with the novel. When I first started writing them I felt like I was wading through mud too. I finally learned that I had to make sure that 1) I was writing the story I really wanted to and 2) I'd planned it out properly.
Everyone's different though so that may not help so much. I have been there and I did get through it. Chin up.

Murees Dupè said...

One's day job can take a lot of your energy without you realizing it. I am sure once you recharge your batteries a bit the novel will practically write itself. All the best and I hope things get better for you.

Jai said...

Thanks for stopping by.

Congrats on the acceptance, that is awesome.

farawayeyes said...

Seems just about everyone on the IWSG today shares the same sentiment - where is the summer going and why is it going so quickly. Glad I'm not the only one.

'Womens Weekly' -- WOW congrats.

Oh and enjoy that little vacation at the end of the month. It will be here before you know it.

cleemckenzie said...

Hey, a pub in a noted magazine is great! Kudos to you. Enjoy your break.

Suzanne Furness said...

Congrats on the magazine that's brilliant and a definite boast. I'm in the throws of making props for our school play at the moment so can sympathise. So much going on this time in the term.

Tonja said...

Congratulations!

I'm exhausted too.

Annalisa Crawford said...

Congratulations again on the acceptance. School of Rock is an awesome Year 6 show - I hope they know how cool that is! I hope it goes well:-)

Karen Jones Gowen said...

Enjoy your vacation! Sounds like you are due for one. Nothing like a little time off to get the writing flowing again.

Rena said...

Awesome about the Women's Weekly. That's awesome.

As for novels... yeah, they're not always what you expect. I've been struggling with mine lately, and so I've been playing a game. I look at where it was flowing, and then I change something along that path. Sometimes I rewrite the section between, sometimes I just make a note in the manuscript like "Damien is now Henrietta, and they aren't chasing vampires, they're chasing dragons." I figure out where things would be at this point in the novel, and I keep on writing.

If it works for you, awesome. If not, I totally understand. Good luck either way. It's really hard to make these characters work sometimes.

Sarah Foster said...

Congrats on the story! I often find myself just not feeling it when it comes to my novel. But you've just got to plow through. If starting over rejuvenates that energy for you, then it's the right choice.

Dana said...

Congrats on your acceptance!

I step away from my writing when I'm not feeling like it's going anywhere. Sometimes my breaks are kind of long, but I think they're important because they always seem to rejuvenate me. Good luck!

Rachel Schieffelbein said...

Congratulations on getting into Women's Weekly! That's awesome!
I think most people go through times when they get stuck on, or just flat out hate, the novel their working on. It's good that you're keeping going! :)

PK HREZO said...

Congrats on Woman Weekly! Nice! I lose that spark with my drafts sometimes and I just set it aside for a bit--it always comes back. Music helps--the right tunes get me motivated. :D

Unknown said...

Hey, Linda!

Congratulations on the Women's Day gig! No worries about the novel, it'll all fall into place. :)

Julie Musil said...

Wow, congratulations on your acceptance by Woman's Weekly! Excellent writing credit :)

Unknown said...

Yay! What great news for you!
Nice to hear from you again. Now--back to the grindstone!
~Just Jill

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on the long-short acceptance! Bubbles drunk I hope!

I'm glad to hear you got back on track with your novel. I was going to say, have you tried another medium when it starts to go wrong, for instance, changing from the laptop to pen and paper and maybe using timelines/spider diagrams to work things out and get the creativity going again, but you'd already found your way back!

Have a great break. Take lots of books for that poolside reading. Free time for relaxing. Bliss x

Anonymous said...

Congrats on being picked up for the short. Me, I'm trembling in my shoes about sending my novel to an agent this week. I'm looking at the envelope, telling myself I am crazy.

Vikki T said...

Im sorry to hear youre struggling with the novel honey, but...2 WEEKS IN THE SUN! WooHoo! :)

Have a lovely time....the novel will still be there when you get back and perhaps a break from it is exactly what you need :)

Congrats on WW (but i think i said that somewhere else...didnt i?) lol

xx

Empty Nest Insider said...

Congrats on your Women's Weekly article! I'm sure that your novel will start "flowing" again soon. Have a wonderful vacation!

Julie

Patsy said...

Congrats on the WW sale!

Elizabeth Seckman said...

Congrats on the sale! That's excellent.

It took me to mid-July to make it through my read list. How sad! I blame the summer heat.

Misha Gerrick said...

Sometimes, starting over is better than plodding along while getting more stuck every single word you write. Best of luck with your novel!