Some progress...

I had a rough couple of weeks (nothing really serious, but just not fun), however by Friday I was feeling well enough to tackle some writing. I'd booked the day off more than a month previously so had a good chunk of time, especially as Sean was working a double shift. Rather than messing around with plotting etc, I just opened my ms, read through the previous couple of scenes, then picked up where I'd left off (mid-scene) and just forced myself to write. Yep, didn't wait for the muse or hope for inspiration, just started listening to my characters and typing.

Is the scene perfect? Is it even finished? No and no, but it's more than 800 words longer than it was before, so I'm happy. As I've learned to do with other mss, when I ran into words/phrases etc I a) wasn't happy with or b) wasn't sure if they were in period, instead of stopping to mess about, I bracketed them and kept going. The ONLY thing I did do was look for some historical furniture to help set myself in the scene...but even then, I kept writing, rather than allowing myself to get lost in an endless search for the perfect sofa and wall paper for the parlour. I'm determined to keep moving on with this as the not writing is now getting worse than the seemingly awful dreck I think I'm producing.

I keep reminding myself of Nora's words about "fixing everything but a blank page."

How do you motivate yourself?

Plotting...the bane of my existence...

I've had problems lately with my plots. I get so far and the story peters out...so I went looking for help on the internet and found some good advice. A lot of it is stuff I already know, and which, in earlier mss, came naturally to me. Now, however, I'm reading again about Three Act Structure, character goals, theme and resolution and hoping they help jar something free so I can finish at least one of my three unfinished manuscript and, preferably, all three.

Here are some of the sites I bookmarked:

The Single Most Powerful Writing Tool You’ll Ever See That Fits On One Page

Your Plot, Step by Step

PLOT---Part Three: Making Plans and Consulting the Maps

How to Use a Plot Notebook When Writing a Book

I know part of my problem is that I'm so caught up with so many projects that I'm not focussing enough on just my writing. That comes from having sacrificed (willingly) so much while I was in school. I thought at first I'd just lost altogether my ability to write and plot, but discovered in the library at Whistler in January that when the ONLY thing I had to focus on was my story, I accomplished more than I had in a while. Maybe that's my secret - I need to lock myself in the Whistler Library!

How about you - what do you do when your story stalls?

Teresa

Decisions, decisions...

I'm trying to decide whether or not to enter The 6th Annual Alaska Break-Up Contest. I like the sound of it because it's a welcome change from the "First Meet" which always seems to focus on the first 30 pages or so of the manuscript. Not that I have a problem with my first 30 pages, but I've had lots of feedback, having entered them several times, both in local contests and in RWA's Golden Heart. And I do actually love the scene in What the Heart Remembers that sees the characters break up - it was a tough scene to write, but I believe it is a strong one.

Still, it's been a while since I've entered a contest and I know they can be real crap shoots (if you'll excuse the expression). While most judges are great, one can occasionally draw a judge who either just doesn't get your work or who doesn't have either the experience to do the job properly or the interest in certain types of stories. OTOH, I realize that this might be the best way to get back into the swing of things before submitting again.

What do you think of contests? Have you entered any lately?

Teresa