After the Bust comes the Boom

I know I'm not alone in the ups and downs of writing. The booms and the busts seem to be normal for just about everyone. I have been in a writing recession for several days now and I'm realizing that writing is a lot like the economy. Okay... it's nothing like that, BUT, bad joke aside, my personal withdrawal from writing ended today! I took the advice of a spectacular friend (Thanks, Sade) and skipped ahead to a scene I'd been dying to write (that pun might have been a little intentional, but sadly no one will get it but me. Well, until now. :P) and finally wrote more than 200 words in a single sitting. I'm so excited! I do have to go back of course, eventually... Actually, it was really hard for this organizational nut to jump ahead when the previous scenes had yet to be written. Normally, I go scene by scene, moment by moment. I can't force myself to leap forward when my characters are stuck in a distant past! I almost felt like I was abandoning them. Ha ha! But I did it and I think it put things back in perspective for me and the moments I missed will now be better because of it.

How about you? Do you write your novels in any sort of order, chronological or otherwise, or do you jot down notes and skip from middle to end to beginning with reckless abandon? It seems like most people just sit down and type whatever comes to mind and somehow end up with brilliant works of art, but maybe that's just me getting the wrong impression. :D

Why I Write

I have always known that I could let my mouth run a mile a minute. In fact, I consider talking one of my favorite hobbies. Perhaps that sounds a little strange, not to mention annoying for anyone on the listening end, but I promise I only talk when people want to listen. For the rest, there's writing. Oh how I've fallen in love with the written word. I had no idea how much I would miss it! Fortunately for me, I do love moving as well, but I'm glad the writing part of me is back and going full throttle.

My reasons for asking why I write came about when Angie asked the question on her blog. So here's my list.



It's an Outlet - I already mentioned this above, but it's so much more than just rambling. I believe that when I write I put myself into it and, in turn, I take away so much more. I walk away a better mother and wife. (As long as they don't interrupt me while I'm in the middle of the process... lol)

It's for Understanding - When I write, I become more introspective. I learn things about myself and the world around me that I normally wouldn't have taken the time to think about.

It's Creative - I have this intense desire to want to create things. When I was younger, I would play Dungeons and Dragons or those other table top role-playing games just so that I could create characters. Now, as a writer, not only do I get to create characters, but I get to create worlds for them to live in.

It's to Help - I have this crazy ambition to touch people's lives that began the first time a performance of mine brought someone to tears (the good kind) and this has spilled over into writing. If I can help someone else with the words I put on paper, nothing could be more worthwhile to me.

I'm sure if I sat here long enough, I could come up with many, many more reasons, but I have a fantasy to write, a world to color and characters to mold so here's a quick update on my WiP and then I'll stop rambling. Judging by my loose outline, I would say I'm about 2/3 of the way through it, though I do keep adding things here and there. I'm at 50k and getting to the really exciting parts! I've had to stop and go a bit through this section as I flesh out history/culture even more and to search for the world map I drew up. Granted, this meant unpacking all of our stuff, which arrived last thursday. It's taken three days, but we're d...almost...not quite done. I'm gonna go write anyway!