Do you see a pattern here...?

Okay, so at the start of Easter I had all these plans to sit down and write, update my blog, get a few more author interviews done, etc etc....annnd I'm going back to uni today and I'm sorry to say I haven't achieved much over the past two weeks...

Firstly, as I think I've already said, when I tried to work on my manuscript at the start of Easter, I started hating it and I never wanted to see it again...luckily, I think that phase is over now (I opened up my manuscript yesterday and no longer wanted to throw it on the fire), but I still couldn't get into writing it.

As for the blog, I have a confession to make - I've simply been too lazy to post much. Terrible, I know! But once I realised this, I realised something else as well. Like I said, I'm back at uni from today (well, should have been the start of the week, but I only have lectures on Thursdays and Fridays) - and look at that, should I have a miraculous urge to blog and write etc etc. This is a pattern which I seem to follow quite a lot - if I have nothing to do but write, I'll deliberately find anyhting else to do but write, but the second I actually have work to do, all I want to do is write! Ahh, it's a vicious circle....

Anyway, on the plus side, I had an okay day yesterday. I put on 'Twilight' (and yes, I do hate the books and films, but the reason I put them on in the background is cos it gives me the determination to write ANYTHING that's better than that drivel) and it gave me the inspiration to write a scene which suddenly popped into my head. It wasn't anything to do with the novel I'm currently writing, or even any of the novel ideas I've scribbled down - it was just a scene that I had to write about! I'm hoping that more inspiration will come soon, so I can see where this story is going....

Also, after I wrote the scene, it gave me a thought - it is a good idea to work on several different stories at once? I was thinking that if you got bored with one story, you could then just switch and start on another, but would this disrupt your ideas too much? Is it better just to stick with one plot/story so you know you'll get it finished, or is it a good idea to take a break from what you're working on for a a while and write something different? I'd love to know what you think!

Have a great day folks!
xx

IWSG Post #1!

Hello fellow Insecure Writers!

I'm sorry I missed last month's posting, but I'll make up for it this month :).

So I've just got back into writing after a rather hefty break (thank you coursework...) and I was rather enjoying myself....until yesterday....

On Monday I spent the whole day writing, and although I didn't get quite get everything done that I wanted to, I thought I'd made a pretty good start considering I had to re-write my second chapter from scratch. Although I'm pretty pleased with my opening chapter at the moment, whenever I look at my second chapter I think 'hmm, yeah, well it's ok....'. 

Yesterday I met up with the Writing Buddy and we sat in a cafe and wrote/gossiped/drank tea for a majority of the day. I let her read my work and although she said it was good, I got this horrible cringey feeling in my stomach and I didn't want her to read any more....I don't know why I was so embarrassed by it - I know it's far from finished, but normally I don't mind when she reads my unfinished work....

I don’t know what it is, but right now I'm suffering from a major case of insecurity. I'm constantly asking myself is my work is good enough? Will anyone ever want to publish it? Will anyone ever want to read it if I self-publish it? Is this novel really worth all this effort? Should I just give up right now and devote my life to something else?

I guess I just don't feel like my work is good enough right now and to make matters worse, I've been thinking of a lot of other story ideas and have been so so tempted to start them instead...but I know that the pattern will just keep repeating itself of starting a book, getting nervous and then never finishing it. I read a blog post once were they referred to this as a 'slutty new idea' and I laughed out loud because, unfortunately, it's so true. The new idea will come along and start whispering seductively in your ear about how great it is, and how you should abandon what you're doing and start writing it right now....and then it buggers off halfway through and another one takes its place.

Anyway, despite what I've said above, I'm determined not to be defeated this time. Which is why I taking off today, sitting in the cafe again and writing til I can write no more! This book IS worth it!

So that's all from me! Looking forward to seeing everyone else's neurotic blog posts for the first time :), and of course I shall try and offer any consolation/tea/hugs that I can :).

Have a great day everyone!

X

Happy Days!

So I just thought I'd share with you what's been going on in my random little world today...

I've spent the day in a cafe with the Writing Buddy, trying to get back into the swing of writing again after the nightmare of coursework/university/student life. Needless to say, we probably did more chatting and gossiping than actual writing, but it felt good to get out of the home and be (slightly) productive. I might pop into town by myself tomorrow and do it all over again....

However, the last time the Writing Buddy saw my novel, the first chapter was a pile of poo and I had no idea how I was going to inject some life into the damn thing. However, since then, I've completely re-written the beginning of my novel and it's ever so slowly starting to take shape. So I guess I'm just going to have to keep going and see what happens.

And if anything should give me the motivation to keep going, it should be this. Congratulations to Lindsay! The synopsis to 'The Murder Complex' sounds amazing, and I can't wait to read it! And it also gives me hope that there's still hope for my own dystopian YA novel!!

In other news....I HAVE A JOB INTERVIEW!!!!

So so so nervous/excited! Can't believe I have an interview for a real, proper grown-up job! I', not going to say any more in case I jinx it, but I'll let you know how it goes! Eek!

So how's your writing coming on?? I'd love to hear from YOU, so maybe I'll get a bit more motivated tonight and write some more!

(Also tonight: I'm planning on writing my blog post for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. I missed it last month, and I'm determined not to do it again! The link to the group is here if you wanna check it out :) ).

Have a good rest-of-the-day everyone!

X

Another Sunny Afternoon...

I've really got to start thinking up of more creative blog post titles...but when I'm just rambling on, there seems to be no point in using fancy wordplay etc etc (however, if you do think of any interesting blog titles, do let me know :P).

Anyway! So, an update on today's work....

I have a confession to make....I may have slight have had an afternoon nap...for an hour...and a half....

But, but...in my defence, I have been up since 5am AND I did write all morning and get a majority of my jobs/errands done SO, all in all it's been quite a productive day! (for me, I mean - this is coming from someone who generally plays the sims all day every day for the duration of the holidays, so I'd say I've done quite well so far!) Also, I don't know if I mentioned this on a previous post, but I did find whilst doing my major project that I work better in the afternoon.night - and as it's only 3.15 here in sunny England, I do have the rest of the day/night to finish off what I wanted to get done today on my novel :)!

I've just checked the word count on what I've done so far today - and rather disappointingly, it stands at 1075 (total word count is 12,835). However, I refuse to be disheartened! Although this doesn't sound like it represents an ENTIRE MORNING'S worth of work, I have rewritten an entire chapter from scratch. So maybe it's not too bad after all....

How about you guys :)? How's your writing coming on today??

X

Good Morning All!

Good morning, everyone! Hope you all had a lovely relaxing/productive/sunny weekend :)!

I'm finally on my Easter break from uni - hooray! I'm really gonna miss having long holiday periods when I finally get a real job....

Anyway, the point of this post is just to inform everyone that I can finally start writing again - yay! I've been so busy having a mental breakdown with coursework I haven't had the time or the will to write/blog/tweet or go on Authonomy :(. I do still have a couple of smaller pieces of coursework due in after Easter, but this week I'm taking off to do what I want to do!

Yesterday, I was really looking forward to sitting down and writing today, but when I got up at 5am for work, all I wanted to do was crawl back into bed! However, once I'd woken up a bit (two hours of cleaning a supermarket will do that to you), I decided that NO, I was NOT going to put my PJs back on slink back into bed - I was going to write, dammit!

So here I am! I've got my mug of coffee and my slice of toast next to me, Radio 2 is on in the background (though may have to change that to my own rock beats in a while to get myself in the zone) - I'm all set! I've just got two more little jobs to tick off my 'to do' list, then I'm free to write!

I'll let you know how I'm getting on....

Have a great Monday, everyone!

xxx