Writer's Block? Where did I go wrong?

I told you all about my new work in progress, Crime & Passion, a few weeks ago. After all my bragging on how much fun I'm having writing this book, how easy the words are flowing from my brain to my fingertips, suddenly that all dried up. I struggled to write two chapters the weekend of the 6th. Even though they felt wrong, I soldiered through, hoping somehow it would start to feel right on its own. 

No dice.  I spent an entire week not writing anything.  I tried all my usual tricks: staring at a blank page, doing housework without any music, listening to classical music while thinking of absolutely nothing (this one doesn't always work for me because I actually like classical music, so it can make my muse happy), long showers, lying in bed trying to think about my characters before falling asleep, counting to ten in my head over and over again - come on Muse, get bored enough to talk to me! Nadda, nothing, zip, zilch. 

I've attempted to write Crime & Passion in a different manner than I wrote Always & Forever.  With A&F, I didn't find critique partners until late in the game. So, when I came across a problem in A&F, I would exchange emails with one of my fabulous crit buddies, they would help hammer out the details, and I would change the manuscript then and there, racing to make changes in the remainder of the MS before my critique partners read any of the chapters that followed the problem.  This method worked well for me, but it meant a lot of editing, not to mention all the other edits I did once working with my editor. 

Several of my friends suggested a different approach for C&P. The method that works for many of them is to write the entire first draft without making any changes. Then, they go through their MS using suggestions from their crit partners to pound their story into shape. They suggested I try this. Since several of the classes I've taken suggest when you need a plot change you simply write a note in the area that needs fixed and then continue writing as though the problem is fixed, I agreed this was likely a good idea.

I'm trying. Lord how I'm trying to follow this advice, even though I itch to go fix problems as my partners find them (I have to admit a few times I've made notes, but then gone back and fixed the problem instead of letting the note stay). So, here I sit with my muse sticking her fingers in her ears and making raspberry sounds every time I try to write. I forced my way through one more chapter. Totally wrong! What happened to my joyful, effortless, loving the heck out of what I'm doing novel writing?

I'd finally had it. At my wit's end, I took a deep breath and tried to remember which part in the MS had last felt effortless. Then, I went back four extra chapters. I took all the critiques I had received and put on my thinking cap. Line by line, I went through each chapter, fixing mistakes my partners noticed, rewording things I didn't like. I might not have been able to write, but I slipped into editing easy-peasy. Five chapters down and no major errors, everything felt good. 

Then, suddenly, two little lines. 

My muse whispered, "I thought you had a different plan for him. What is that doing there?"

"Really? This little throwaway dialogue is what pissed you off?" I ask. "It's a little bit of nothing that doesn't even matter."

I swear to you she laughed. 

I took that line out, reworking it into what she wanted to see. BAM! She poured out what will happen in the rest of the book faster then I could keep up. I'm not worried though. I fixed her problem and I know she'll keep talking to me now. The ideas will all still be there when I'm ready for them.

The bad news? The three chapters I forced myself to write have had to be totally revamped. In fact, the last one was totally deleted. So, even though pushing through all the way on your first draft might be a good choice in most cases, if you find yourself stuck, perhaps you put a little nothing line in there that actually throws off your entire novel.

No matter how much I try to tell myself I'm the one in control, my muse is in the driver's seat and she is very, very picky!

Happy writing, my friends! I hope you are having a fabulous week!

eeeChantelfff

Finessing Your Muse - Wednesday Writing Tip

Okay, after my mini breakdown last week, I'm feeling back in form this week.  Thanks so much for everyone's support and ideas on how to get my motivation back!

This week, I thought we'd talk a little bit about where ideas come from.  For new writers, the prospect of learning to talk to your right brain (your Muse) is a little scary. In the beginning, I resisted the idea that there are two separate people in my brain, and I didn't want to give my Muse her own identity.  That was the hardest part for me.  Once I got past that, it was just a matter of listening. It's really a training program of sorts, learning to do that.  Once you get used to listening to the cool stuff your Muse pitches, you'll see story ideas everywhere.  Eventually, your Muse will never shut up! But that's a good thing...most of the time. :-)

The first method I practiced when trying to open up my Muse was actually something I first learned in third grade.  We called it brainstorming there, or making a spider graph. One writing class I took called it making a sweet spot map. Another class called it mind mapping. Yet another mentioned something about bubbles.  Whatever you want to call it, making a spider graph is an excellent way to prompt your Muse to start talking.

I never could figure out what the classes were telling me to do exactly, so I did what worked best for me.  I told my Muse I wanted to write a novel length story and I wanted it to be a mystery.  Then, I wrote the first word that came into my mind in the center of a piece of paper.

FEAR

I put a box around this word and waited.  The waiting is very important.  Don't think of anything, just look at the word.  My Muse is like a bored child being forced to sit idle in the corner when I use this method. Since I'm refusing to think of anything consciously, she will start trying to get my attention.

"What about aliens?" she asked.

"No," I replied.  "We want a mystery, remember?"

She became a little huffy, but I could tell she was still thinking. I simply stared at FEAR, waiting.

"Fine!" she screamed.  "I see a girl."

Well...this was better than nothing.  After all, every novel needs a main character.  "What's her name?" I asked.

"Rachel."

I quickly drew a line off FEAR and put Rachel, drawing a circle around that word.

Next we got boxes for Rachel's past and the stepfather who murdered Rachel's mother.  Every time my Muse pitched something I didn't like, I simply told her no and waited.  She worked faster than I thought possible. We discovered our mystery together, making circles as we went.  Rachel's stepfather is about to be released from prison, and Rachel wishes he would just fall off the face of the planet.  When he turns up dead the morning after his release and Rachel wakes up covered in blood with no memory of the night before, things heat up.  Men start entering Rachel's life who may or may not be there to help her.  People from her past start to appear, and Rachel learns she has multiple personalities as the story progresses.  Are one of her personalities committing horrible crimes?

You can use Mindmeister https://www.mindmeister.com/ to make this on the computer, but I actually work on real paper.  I used lined paper in my writing notebook (which is literally just a notebook...no fancy journals for me) but I've heard some people say they prefer blank paper without lines. Either way, this is a great way to learn to communicate with your Muse.

Boredom is always the key factor for me. This might sound crazy, but folding laundry works even better for me than staring at a blank page. Laundry bores my muse to tears.  She can't wait to give me ideas if I'm just standing there with clean clothes in my hands. If there is a certain thing I want, I ask for it first before I start the "bore my Muse to death" campaign.  If there is a certain word I already know I want to build around, or maybe a certain problem in my book that I need my Muse to work on, I will write that down to start us off. She has all the good stuff, just sometimes she keeps it to herself.

In Always & Forever I had a character who I didn't really know his purpose.  I told my Muse, either find me a purpose for him, or I am going to kill him, then I went and mopped the kitchen floor (works as good as laundry, but I hate this chore so wouldn't recommend it).  Boy, did she ever come up with the best idea! It made the entire plot of my book that much better when I forced my Muse to figure out why that character was in the book.

Your Muse knows all the answers to your story issues, too.  Sometimes, you just need to ask the right questions.

Unfortunately, Rachel's story is one of those I gave up on after a while.  I over planned it.  I'm very much a seat of my pants writer, and knowing the entire story beforehand takes out the fun for me. However, I think of Rachel from time to time, and maybe one day I will find a new twist to her story and give it another try.

Oh, a parting suggestion.  Never, ever tell your muse what she says is stupid. If you don't like an idea, just say no with a gentle reminder of what you are looking for.  If you say "What the heck did you say that for? How stupid!" s/he will run to the furthest corner of your mind, stick his fingers in his ears, and make a raspberry sound at you for days!

For more suggestions on mind mapping, check out these sites:
http://litemind.com/what-is-mind-mapping/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map

Happy writing, everyone!  May your Muse be totally cooperative!!