Stuck

Posted by kosturcompose76 on February 16, 2012
Posted in: Inspiration, Writing Exercises.
Fence

Fence

I’m stuck, and intimidated.  I hope that by writing those words down, being honest with myself and the world, that I will get un-stuck.

I need to do some structural work on my novel and my inner voice keeps crying out “You are a fraud!” and “You don’t have the chops to fix this!”.

I know what my next step should be.  I need to move some content around in my novel;  my big, complete, first draft of a novel.  I received wonderful feedback from my first reviewer.  Her notes gave me new ideas and the desire to improve upon my work.  It sounds so simple in my head.  I have the desire to do the work.  I know what needs to be done.  Now I just need to pick one foot up, put it in front of the other and walk down the path I see before me.

To fight my inner critic I am going to write five positive statements about myself and my writing; overwhelm that negative voice and get myself moving in the direction of my dreams.  (This part is embarrassing, but I’m going to do it anyway.)

  1. An agent called my writing sweet and tender.
  2. Everyone who has read my novel enjoyed it.
  3. I set goals and then achieve them.
  4. People enjoy talking to me.  Writing a book is talking on a page.  Therefore people will enjoy reading my book.
  5. I enjoy writing and I deserve to do things I enjoy.

I don’t really hold out much hope that I will ever stop being intimidated, but hopefully the stuck part can pass. Wish me luck.  Go me!

Writing Exercise:

Dialogue drives many stories.  It can build intimacy and immediacy, bringing readers closer to characters through word choice, tempo and more.  Dialogue is also a great way for us, as writers, to get to know our characters.  Sometimes when you write a scene and get a character talking, words will “come out of their mouth” that you hadn’t planned.  These happy accidents can drive a story in a new direction and free your creativity.  Let your characters speak.  Write an entire scene exclusively using dialogue.  Don’t describe the setting or give any background just let your characters speak to themselves;  to each other; or, even to inanimate objects.  Aim to fill one page with this conversation.