Conquering Slumps or "Writer's Block"

In addition to being exciting, writing comes with its share of down times. 

Many authors struggle with depression. Most notably, The Bloggess, Jenny Lawson, regularly talks about her bouts of depression and how she deals with it. Stephen King is another example. Most authors go through dark periods, myself included. Let me say right off the bat, if you’re struggling with depression, it’s okay to get help. When I hit my lowest point, I did, and it helped tremendously. My goal today is to provide some ideas for how to kickstart your brain when it wanders down those dark alleyways, before it reaches critical mass, a very high-level approach to get past the doldrums rather than a ladder to climb out of despair. As with all things, your mileage may vary.

During the course of writing a book, there are inevitably those times where writer's angst kicks in. The “I suck” feeling. The imposter syndrome where I'm sure nobody wants to read my drivel – including me. When the creative juices seem to dry up, or when sales slack off. The problem with those days is they can creep into other aspects of your life, like The Fog (Creature Features movie, for those of you who might not remember it) until you can’t see your hand in front of your face. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

So what do you do when the fog starts rolling in?

• Exercise.
• Yoga.
• Phone a friend.
• Get outside and look at the world around you. Really look at it, at all the beautiful things hiding in plain sight (#OutAndAbout).
• Volunteer. Nothing reminds you how small your problems are like seeing how good you have it when compared to someone who isn’t as fortunate.
• Go the Jiminy Cricket route and “Give a Little Whistle.” Or sing a song (#MyLifeIsAMusical).
• Learn something new.
• Listen to music that relaxes you.
• And one thing very author-specific: Read a book. I’ve found this can inspire you, either to be as good as your favorite author, or better than someone who might not write as well as you do. (This one is last because it doesn’t always work the way you expect!)

In the end, falling into writers angst is a frame of mind. Maybe the writing does suck, but the important thing is not to let it pull you into a black hole. We all have bad days--some worse than others--and we will continue to experience disappointments. The key is to overcome them. 

On those days I doubt my ability, I remind myself why I write (because I love creating new and different worlds to escape to) and ultimately, putting in the effort shines like the sun on the encroaching fog. It helps to have a couple of awards (and five-star reviews!) to provide some validation. Even if I'm only writing for myself, it brings me joy. 

How do you overcome self-doubt?

via GIPHY

Do You Really Want to Go There?

As a fiction author, nothing holds you back more than your own fear someone is going to read it and laugh at you. Or worse, judge you. Case in point:

Shortly after LIVING CANVAS came out, I ran a special. One of the ladies I work with asked me about my writing and I told her this was the perfect time for her to see for herself - pitching the special. She got herself a copy. A week later, she said she could hardly look at me without being embarrassed. Was I writing from personal experience? To give you reference, I followed the trend in romance novels and "opened the door" during intimate scenes. My coworker said every time she read the sexy parts, she pictured me. Okay, that's embarrassing for me, as well. I assured her the characters were in my imagination - NOT ME. Funny how she sees the interpersonal interaction between my characters as "based on real life" but the main character goes for a walk inside a painting. Does she imagine me doing that, as well? Granted, the story was inspired by a picture that hangs on my wall over my computer, but I've never disappeared inside the painting. Writing the genre standard scenes was merely that - writing to the genre. Even my mother told me I ought to beef up my writing with more sex and violence - until I did. Then it was too much, but you know. Moms. 

I'd always dabbled with the supernatural. I loved scary movies and I'm a fan of Stephen King, so surprise! My books tended to lean ever so slightly into the paranormal. Emphasis on the ever so slightly, because what will people think? That I'm a whackadoodle? That I believe in the "woo-woo?" It took me some time before I gave myself permission to go full on ghost story/paranormal, maturing as a writer to get to the point beyond "what will people think?" I'm writing to entertain. People who pick up my books are looking for that particular brand of entertainment. So why is it, twenty some odd years later, that I'm standing on a precipice, writing my next book (genre: romantasy) and getting hung up on being too far out there?

As an author, it is important to know your genre - and genres are fluid. They change over time. What used to pass for a romance no longer does. Submissive women have become their own heroes, with men as decoration, unless you are specifically looking for submissive women. (Oversimplified, but you get the point.) Sex used to be taboo in a romance novel, then it became a requirement. Things have modified over time. Now you can get "sweet" or "spicy" (please don't get me started on "clean" or "dirty). Even spicy novels have toned it down a bit. Unless, of course, you're reading those books for the spice, in which case you might be looking for erotic romance. The point here is to understand the ever changing choices your audience is making. 

The big publishing houses will dictate to their authors what to write (to a certain degree) to fit the demographics and the trends. Independent authors get to write what they want - and they demand a large share of the market. Genres that cross marketplaces. I can use Diana Gabaldon as an example here. She writes romance, and action/adventure, historical, time travel - all in one novel. The important part is to tell a story worth reading, and your audience will follow.

Watching Television

During my recuperation process, I spent more time watching television than usual. Remember when they used to call the T.V. the idiot box? Now we have tablets/computers to turn our minds into jelly. But I digress.

I've been watching a bunch of oddball shows during my recuperation. One (and not just during recuperation) is The Mystery of Oak Island. Two brothers own property on an island in Canada where it's purported the Knights Templar buried treasure. The brothers have been treasure hunting there for a bunch of years, and they keep finding clues that motivate them to keep looking. One of the brothers is looking for the treasure, and the other is looking for the "hunt." Curiosity. 

Here's the thing. There's another show on the same channel where they were diving shipwrecks in the Bermuda Triangle. That show captivated me. Every week you knew you would have a payoff. Maybe it isn't the one they hoped it would be (I found this show while I was writing Horned Owl Hollow, which covers the Cyclops, a naval ship lost at sea in the Bermuda Triangle), but they always find something. On Oak Island, they always find something, usually with archeological significance, but there isn't a payoff. I'm intrigued by archeology, so from that standpoint the show is interesting, but the treasure hunt ... well, I don't have enough patience to be a treasure hunter. Feels a lot like throwing good money after bad in a highly competitive industry where you might get beaten out of a payoff. 

Another point that hits me sideways with this show is that they're turning this island into Swiss cheese in their search for treasure - a treasure they don't even know is there. They've found lots of artefacts that indicate settlers were there, which is historically significant, and they've found traces of elements that keep them going. They bring up manmade boards from a hundred feet below the surface, which indicates there are tunnels and chambers. They've taken field trips to visit other Templar caches, and those caches are usually in existing caves under the ground. Which brings me to ...

The Lagina brothers are using heavy equipment to dig hundreds of feet below the earth. How did settlers who arrived in the 1600s and later dig that far below the surface, including building a series of boobytraps in the form of flood tunnels to keep people out? I do realize the Templars built some of their chambers, but they built them in existing infrastructure. To start from scratch seems counterintuitive, including sabotaging their efforts with flood tunnels. 

Okay, that's the skeptic in me. The Laginas have found some very interesting things, and they've uncovered some fascinating history and theories to support their finds. As someone who is interested in Templar lore (I studied it extensively while writing Touched By The Sun), it's interesting to see the evidence of Templars on their island and artefacts dating back to the first Europeans to land in the "New World." Clearly, I'm not the only person watching this show because the network is still financing their treasure hunt. 

Now that I'm recovered, I'll likely have less T.V. time, but I'm always looking for interesting shows to watch. What's on your watch list these days?

Creativity and Inspiration

I received a gift from a friend this week. Thank you, Jennifer! She's a marvelous, imaginative, crafty person, and she's been working on some projects over the past year, telling me all about them and how she creates them. She lives in another state, so I have only her descriptions to imagine with. Imagine my surprise when I received one of those projects! I feel like I'll spend weeks discovering all the little odds and ends that went into it and with it. I'm completely enchanted.

She has been making journals for people. She hand stitches covers and pieces, and she's also a quilter, so she can put thing together you might not think about. On my own, I probably wouldn't buy something like this, but having received it as a gift - this journal is magical. She said she took some time to think about what would be the perfect thing for me, and I have to say she nailed it. She suggested using it as a story board to capture ideas and outlines and odds and ends that relate to the book I'm currently writing. It's also useful as a journal, or maybe as a grimoire of sorts to leave to my kids/ grandkids. So many options, but having received it right when I did, I'm inspired to write a story about/with it. 

I've been working on a new romance with a supernatural twist, and now I'm torn between shelving that and sliding back into an Elspeth Barclay novel to use my new journal. Or... jot down things to pass down to my family. I might have to buy/commission more of these...

The writing process has been slow this year for various reasons. Most of those distractions are behind me now (or at least I hope they are!) so I need to get busy. The good news is that I feel re-energized, so full steam ahead. 

Temporarily out of order

Concentrating on me for a few days here. Still hoping to be able to keep my date with the library on Saturday. The Big Guy has volunteered to be my roadie while I'm out of order and do all the heavy lifting. 

In the meantime, some specials running: Smashwords is doing their "Read an Ebook Week" promotion. My entire catalog is half off, so this is a good time to go buy whichever ones you might be missing. They did a merge recently, and haven't consolidated my books yet, so you can find them at

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/KarlaBrandenburg

or at

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/KarlaBran

They're all there somewhere. Also, Horned Owl Hollow is on sale for $0.99 EVERYWHERE through the weekend.

Hoping to be back among the living next week. 

Reading as a part of Writing

How to be a better writer? Read more books. Just ask Stephen King. 

You know, whenever I read a Stephen King book, I find myself adding so much more description to my writing - something he's very good at and a reminder at the depth it adds. One of the reasons reading augments the writing process. 

I've been behind on my TBR, as I've been behind on a lot of things lately with other "life" things vying for my attention. However, I recently picked up a book I thought for sure would be good. And it was. Until it wasn't. A well-known, NYT best selling author. The story kept me with it all the way until the very end--or maybe I should say until it stopped. 

If you've been with me for a while, you know how much I hate cliffhanger endings, especially when the follow-up hasn't been published. Anne Rice did that to me with the Vampire Lestat books. I read the second one before the third one was published and I was NOT happy. Who the heck climbed into the coffin? Yes, I remember the cliffhanger all these years later, which might be considered a good thing (any press is good press?) except it really soured me on her. Yes, I read the third book in the series, and my opinion of that book was not positive. Likewise, I loved the first several Diana Gabaldon books, and even when I was no longer enthralled with them, I kept reading--until she ended one on a cliffhanger. Done. Uh-uh. No more.

Okay, all of that aside, let's talk about the parts of the book I liked. The main character was well drawn. I was rooting for her. The world she created was realistic, despite being fantasy. Books like that remind you how to write well, what things to pay attention to in your own writing. Motivation to keep writing. When it ended so abruptly, I almost threw the book at the wall (figuratively, it was an e-book, after all). When I read a book that frustrates or disappoints me, I find it hard to pick up "the next book" (and by that, I don't mean next in series, I mean ANY book).

Then I went on the weekend getaway, and one of my friends was reading a book. "Is it any good?" "Yeah. Want to read it when I'm done?" Books that come with a recommendation are usually the best ones. She finished the book on the plane ride home and handed it to me. It still took me a week to dive into it because I was still cranky about the non-ending I'd just finished. When I did pick up the book my friend handed me, I devoured it in a day. A whodoneit about the daughter of a serial killer, and although her father has been in jail for a number of years, the killings have begun again - and someone is killing the daughter's patients (she's a doctor). Is it the doctor? Her old boyfriend? Her business partner? Extremely well crafted, the twist at the end is unexpected and yet well laid out. 

I want to write like that.

I can write like that. Reading highlights the things that work, and when the book isn't as good, highlights the things that don't work. The reading part is covered, so I need to keep concentrating on the writing, reminded of the structure that works well as well as pitfalls to avoid. 

Hey, while you're here, HORNED OWL HOLLOW is on sale, if you haven't read it yet. You can pick up a copy for $0.99 for a limited time! 

Routines

You know how some people can sleep anywhere? Give them a bed or a comfy chair and they're out like a light. Then there are people who toss and turn in a hotel room, even if it's quiet, because it isn't THEIR bed. Some people require more structure than others. I am such a being.

When I was working, I had to balance a demanding day job with my writing gig. When I first began "seriously" writing, I did it at night, when the rest of the household was asleep by nine o'clock. I continued that routine for several years, which worked out well. It gave me stress relief at the end of the day when all my other responsibilities were taken care of. Nothing is so constant as change, however. Little kids turned into big kids, the job became MORE demanding. There was a period of time where I didn't write, at least not consistently.

As life became more routine again, I found time to write again. Early in the morning. On my lunch hour. That became the new norm, and as I settled into that routine, I cranked out a lot of books! Then life changed again. I retired. Now I had ALL DAY to write if I wanted to. I wanted to, but funny thing about that. It's much easier to procrastinate when you tell yourself "oh, I can do that later. I have ALL DAY." Suddenly, you don't have all day. Routines are gone once again, but because I had all day to write, I did find time. I settled into a new routine doing my running around in the morning and sitting at the keyboard after lunch. Success! Funny thing, though. If I have a free morning, I find I do better in the mornings. Still. Years of conditioning to take advantage of those early hours don't fall away easily.

I still get upended when life rears its ugly head and interferes, and with the holidays and other distractions cutting into my writing time, I'm behind schedule. Once again, my routine was thrown off. Well, the holidays are over, and other distractions continue to poke at me, but here's the thing. Writing is a job. You have to treat it like one. So I'm back at the keyboard after lunch, working to re-establish that routine. For some people, they have to sit at a desk with their headphones on either blocking the world out or listening to "writing music," but for me, I just need my keyboard and a comfortable chair. The physical aspect isn't so important for me as the old "just do it" part. The music? Yes, when I get stuck, I've found having background music can drown out whatever other distractions might be lurking, as long as I sit at my computer.

What about you? Are you a structured person? Do you have routines that, when you miss them, throw you off balance? Or can you "sleep anywhere?"