New RX must be seriously tough stuff because after 1 dose I am doing better. Not great, but really seriously better. WHOO HOOO.
Got in a lovely e-mail discussion with a fellow author. Basically she is having the same problem a lot of us do. WHEN do you fit the writing in without screwing up the rest of your life. Don't know if my advice will help. Most people don't like it much. It consists of, get up way earlier than everybody else so that they can't interrupt you. Because as much as they want to be supportive, they can't quite "get" it.
Let me try to explain (I may already have talked about this in a blog a long time ago, but if you've seen it before, skip it or bear with me). People who love you want your attention. It's part of loving you. They also don't see why "Honey, where's my ... (insert lost item from wallet to remote)" is a problem. It only takes a second after all. BUT when you are deeply immersed in your fantasy world, planning the fight of the hero/heroine's life against a werewolf or vampire with supernatural speed (hell maybe even bad breath) there is NOTHING quite like the mental grinding of gears that comes with having something completely mundane drop down on your head from on high. There's a rhythm to writing. Break the rhythm, and the writing is choppy, and just doesn't work. Break the rhythm often enough and you can't even get back to the work. The creativity and ideas are just... gone. This is particularly so if you're writing in first person because in first person you are describing things as if you ARE the hero/heroine.
It can also be a little freaky for the person who interrupts you. I was writing a murder mystery -- first person -- hero a middle-aged, male, Hispanic bail bondsman with serious attitude problems. He's just discovered the bodies. My son (probably 6 or 7 at the time) wanders into the room to ask something inane. When I answered him, my body language, tone, choice of words, all were not MOM. TOTALLY weirded him out. (I wasn't mean to him, honest, but according to him it was very much like I was "possessed" and he DIDN'T like it.)
Last but not least, it's FRUSTRATING! It's sort of like the same radar that little kids have about their parents having sex. They can't possibly know, but they KNOW. Otherwise, how can you explain how they interrupt AT THE WORST POSSIBLE INSTANT every single time?
So, I moved my writing to times when nobody is awake or liable to interrupt. It's just safer and better for everyone concerned.
Have a great day folks.
Cie
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
THE EXILE
IF YOU DON'T SEE IT--ORDER IT NOW
ALL MY BOOKS ARE NOW AVAILABLE ON AUDIO
RECENTLY RE-RELEASED
C.T. Adams is a U.S.A. Today Bestselling Author who writes both individually and as co-author with Cathy L. Clamp. Our new joint pen name is Cat Adams. This is Cie's Blog. View and Participate AT YOUR OWN RISK (BWA, HA, HA, HA!!!)
OUT NOW: COME AND GET IT!!!
THE EXILE
ALL YOUR WISHES
IF YOU DON'T SEE IT--ORDER IT NOW
AUDIOBOOKS
ALL MY BOOKS ARE NOW AVAILABLE ON AUDIO
Get C.T. Adams, Cathy Clamp, & Cat Adams' Newsletter
BOOK ONE OF THE THRALL SERIES
RECENTLY RE-RELEASED
Career Achievement Award
Blog Archive
About Me
- C. T. Adams
- This is Cie's blog. It doesn't get visited as often as it should. But there you go. My personal website is: www.ctadamsauthor.com
7 comments:
Ha, great insight on writing time, and I hear ya on all that, as when I write, I am so into the writing that I become a different person developing the characters in the story. I also hear ya on the break of the writing flow when someone interupts you. I used to write in a coffee shop (I hate writing at home, my place is uncomfortable for me to write), then after a while the regulars at the coffee shop asked me what I was doing and I told them I was writing a novel and then everyday I would have 10 people ask me questions about it, so I got so distracted that I stopped altogether so the routine flow was gone. I have great stories to tell about my characters and experiences from people regarding the writing though, fun stories. I plan to do more soon (I keep putting it off due to time though, so I totally understand the time factor involved, it's a lot of work, dedication and alone time). If I thought I would ever get published, I would just do it, so right now I write for myself, and plan to self publish someday when I am 100,000% happy with it (ha, ha). Next year I plan to take a vacation or two by myself and stay somewhere cheap and for a week at a time and go out during the day and write at night (but I need to revise a few characters and my outline to get headed in the right direction).
Cie, Cathy and Yolanda, have a great weekend.
Jimbo
Hmmmm...an interesting perspective from the author. I never thought about how involved an author gets into their own stories. But I guess it's true. It's like when I watch The O.C. If you dare try to talk to me while it's on, I will totally bite your head off. And it's not cuz I'm mean, but it's cuz I'm so involved in the storyline that I lose all reality, and focus all my attention to what's happening to the 25-year-old teenagers and their 35-year-old parents. LOL...Anyways, good luck on finding that peace and quiet you authors need...
Have a great weekend guys! Ten minutes and I'm off. I will REST, I will RELAX and I will most assuredly WRITE.
Hope you all have fun.
Cie
LOL! I was just talking about this with my husband last night when we went for a drive! It's what my daughter did to me yesterday while I was doing my daily writing.
I find it really physically draining for her to interupt me when I'm so into the world I'm creating on the screen...
Hope you have a TERRIFIC weekend Cie! :)
Jim - hope you have a FUN weekend!
:)
Just checking in, I hope everyone's having a great weekend! D.T., you are too funny with your "The O. C." comment about the 25 year old kids with 35 year old parent's, maybe that's why they call it "Hollyweird" ha, ha! Have fun everyone!
Jimbo
Checking in again! everybody continue having a great weekend!
Jimbo
Post a Comment