Heavy is the head...

So after my long break I can thankfully say, I have been steadily writing. It's a relief in some ways and at the same time so natural for me. The act of putting words down to create some piece of art is one of the few things that can make me truly happy.

As with any other time I start something artistic I tend to grow contemplative. This time in particular I got to thinking about the information we take in as a writer. 

There are so many things. Watch out for these tropes and cliches. What genre am I writing in? What audience am I writing for? Age group? What are agents looking for right now? What is the most successful voice currently for this genre or that? These and more are often floating around an authors mind the more into the business they are.

Am I saying this is not useful information? Of course not, it is smart to be aware of all of this. The problem comes in when we let these things rule our writing. When they start to take over. It reminds me of when studios come along and make a movie because of some other movie that did well. It happens a lot in all types of entertainment. 

So what should rule your writing? You. Tell the story you want to tell. Know the tropes and cliches only so you can use them in a way you want to. There is a time to let the business or critical world of writing come in, I call that revisions. When you sit down to write that first draft, just write. Don't start your story with all of these boundaries. It is a good way to get bogged down before your first sentence is written.

Anyway, these are just some of my thoughts while writing. As always, have fun and keep writing.

IWSG

This is a group that allows authors to join together and give advice or express insecurities. Started by Alex J Cavanaugh, if you'd like to join up click his name.


Okay before I write my post I just want to say, it is good to be back. I needed some time away from things to order some RL stuff and some writer type things. Just know that I missed you all. Okay onto my post.

This month I want to write about those two words that pop up for writers quite a bit. Writer's Block. I have expressed the views on writer's block by one of my favorite authors Mr. Bob Salvatore. Views I agree with. He states that there is no such thing as writer's block. He says that what people are truly feeling is a lack of confidence about what they are trying to write. I think this is very true.

In fact it is very obvious in how it is often defeated, which is by just sitting down and making yourself write. Still sometimes we have to understand where that lack of confidence comes from before we can proceed. It is truly a theme that is behind this group I believe. Insecurity leads to a lack of confidence.

I have talked about not living up to expectations. I have talked about not feeling up to the task of writing a certain story. This past month I have hit a new block.

The lingering questions. 

Sometimes this can mean something to do with the plot. In fact there were a few questions I had about where I wanted the story to go. More so there was a question hanging over me about where I wanted to go as an author. 

I have had a few changes go on in my life and when that happens I tend to reevaluate things. It seemed until I had a solid plan to follow, my fingers refused to type another word on any of my manuscripts. So, I did the only thing I could think of at the time. I shut it all off.

I stopped blogging, twittering, FBing, Goodreadsing. lol. I just lived and hung out with my family and tried to focus on life. It proved to be very cathartic. I let time fix my issues. Soon the need to write came to me. I was able to work out a plan for my path to publishing more books and I was ready to be back in my writing world, that I love so much.

Sometimes the best thing is to let your problems dissipate on their own. Being who I am, I have a bad habit of forcing things to happen or work. It is through age that I am learning not all things can be fixed with this method.

Anyways, I hope everyone has been well. As always, have fun and keep writing.