A Whole Lot of Not Writing Going On

Let's just start with... no, that isn't my dog. It's a stock photo. Y'all know I'm a cat person.

Writer's block is so fun. 

Especially the kind that lasts, y'know, months.

I've been in a creative writing freeze since probably December. I tried to do some minor writing on several books, but it just wasn't working. 

Then I kind of figured out that I wasn't going places or doing things to give me new ideas, and the lack of interaction with people meant my people writing abilities were diminished down to a speck of dust on the bottom of a vault floor. 

Not fun.

Thankfully, I've been getting out more, doing more, and I'm slowly building up steam again! It's taking time but I wrote an entire chapter in one night, and it wasn't even horrible when I read it again. 

There are plenty of days where my mind has plenty of idea and I have plenty of time to write, but I still don't, and that's okay, too. It's better for me to write when I have the concentration to do so than to sit down and write a bunch of nothing. 

Writer's block is still a pain and I'm trying to get past it, though, so I thought I'd share a little of what I've worked on here lately. Not the actual writing, but the general overview of what I've done.

My Oliver and Faith have had their ending changed twice.

I went from a party to a funeral to a party, and I think they're getting tired of my flip-flopping back and forth. Since my sister/editor says stick to the party, I'm sticking to the party... for now. 

Elizabeth from Faith and Anissa's books is getting her own book!

And I'm super excited about it, so I've done the most with her book. At first I thought I'd give her a surprise plot twist for an end, but then this secondary character popped up and he wasn't leaving, and one can hardly argue with secondary characters who make themselves main characters, so I guess that's that. Elizabeth, too, has taken on a new personality and is giving me trouble because she would be a wild, free and happy lady while I had her pinned down to be secretly discontent, moody and willful. And perhaps she still is both, but she doesn't agree. 

I've dabbled in a little historical fiction. 

Actually, a lot. I've had to do a lot of research into when refrigerators and washing machines as we know them came about, the likelihood of having running water and electricity in a farmhouse in the late 1910's would be, and popular phrases from the same decade. I know more about what corsets were actually like in days of old than what people (and movies) make them out to be than anyone should. I also have been a horrible person by burning not one but two farmhouses down in this book. Pity these characters, they're going through much at my hand! 

A loosely Jane Austen based book may be in the works.

Still working on details, and wondering if we really need another 'loosely based on JA novels' fanfic book. 

A modern day Persuasion retelling is in the works.

Because 1. It's my favorite Jane Austen book 2. I haven't liked any of the currently available modern retellings 3. I just really wanted to do it.

I've come to realize I punish all the characters who bear the most of my personality and traits the most and then give them the happiest endings.

I do not know how to solve this. If you do, please contact me. My book babies thank you.

Reading books to get inspiration to write didn't work, but it did result in my questioning how many times I've used particular words too much in a book.

Like the word 'okay' or 'well' or 'oh'. 

Harmon and Anissa have undergone a complete transformation.

Upon realizing that Anissa and Faith were almost carbon copies of each other, I decided to give Harmon and Anissa's books a makeover. Currently that involves switching around several elements of their plot, their appearance and pretty much starting the book over completely to accommodate the changes. They don't appreciate the changes, but I can't have two identical books in a series, now can I?

Anyway, that's a brief update to keep this blog active. I'll be doing some book reviews, short stories and other posts in the future, but for today, my writing levels are drained and I must go do some laundry before the baby needs attention!