Saturday, May 9, 2009

Hello muse!

Life is good! My wayward muse came back to me last night, and I finally managed to move forward from the point I've been stuck at for weeks.

Now, I'll admit I haven't been giving the WIP my utmost attention lately, what with organizing promo, doing homework for the Blog Book Tours class, and trying to promote the May Birthday Celebration for Lyrical Press. Not to mention the kids and the day job...

But in the back of my mind, every time I thought about opening that file and getting back to work - I'd freeze up. I was convinced it stunk and there was no rescue and no point in bothering. Finally, finally, I sat down last night and started to peck at the keyboard, putting down any old words until things started to flow again.

And they DID! I mean, it still stinks, but that's okay - I'm allowed to write shitty first drafts, that's my mantra. I can fix it in editing, and I like editing. We're not talking pages and pages of prose, either. I wrote about 1200 words, but that feels like SO MUCH when you've been stuck.

The really nice part is that I know where the scene is going and when I sit down to write this morning, I think things are going to go pretty well.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah yes - that wonderful feeling when the muse meanders back. Now GO for it! :)

Karen Brees said...

Yes! It stinks to be stuck. Sometimes the problem is the pov and changing that helps get stuff flowing again. Good news from you!

Charlotte Phillips said...

Elle,

I hate being stuck! Sometimes I just jump ahead to the next scene or go write something else for a while. That seems to work for me.

Charlotte
http://charsbookreviews.blogspot.com/

Alexis Grant said...

Elle,

I really feel like I can relate to your posts sometimes. I love editing too, and for me the hardest part is to get initial words down on the paper.

Doesn't it feel so good to get unstuck? Maybe you just needed some time away from you work. It reminds me of running -- I can run and run all week, but sometimes it's after a day off that my legs do wonders.

Alexis
http://alexisgrant.wordpress.com

Jennifer Taggart, TheSmartMama said...

Woot! Getting the inspiration back is great. I've been having a hard time with BBT class because I've been stuck on blog topics.

Julie Lomoe said...

Congratulations! I'm jealous - but jealousy can be a great motivator, so thanks for the inspiration.

Elle Parker said...

Thanks everyone!

So far, I'm getting a little added each day, so I hope I can keep the ball rolling

Elle