Remember when…

…it was easier to write when you didn’t know the rules? You could sit down at the computer with reckless abandon and write until your heart was content. You could use passive voice and adverbs and no one would give a damn. You could head-hop and info dump all you wanted and it still didn’t matter.

And then you took a craft class or two and learned the do’s and don’ts and suddenly, writing got hard. Suddenly, you had to figure out a plot and make characters sound real. And if you were writing anything but contemporary, you had to do serious research (I’m not saying that contemporary stuff doesn’t involve research but there is a certain amout of it that goes into fantasy or historical. You get my drift…). And then you use up hours upon hours scouring the internet for information on your selected topic. You spend hours in Half Price Books and the library looking for books on whatever it is you’re salivating to learn about.

When you finally get back to the page, you feel almost overwhelmed with all the information floating around in your head and you’re not sure what to use and what NOT to use. So you start to write anyway, but after a word or two, frustration sets in and you sit and stare at that darn blinking cursor…

And of course I’m using the word “you” collectively here.

Maybe this doesn’t happen to all writers, but it sure as hell happens to me. I feel sort of lost sometimes and I don’t know where to begin. And when I’m away from the page for more than a day, it’s hard to get back into the swing of things. It’s hard to make myself sit at the desk and write when all I want to do is climb into bed and read my book.

But somehow, last night, I managed to eek out a few words. I sort of had a spark of an idea thanks to my good friend. She also helped me rename my hero – again! Poor guy has had three names in the last few revisions. But nothing sounded right for him. I think I’ve finally figured out his name … and it’s a totally Alpha Male name, too. Love it. It seems to be perfect for him.

Anyway, I had a character I thought I was killing off but for some reason, she’s decided she doesn’t want to be dead. Which poses an interesting question as I write this – what DOES happen to her when she “dies”? Does she fake her death? Do astral projection? What? I’ll figure that out when I get closer to that time… My protagonist is going to be VERY happy this character isn’t dead, though. And I think it’ll add a great twist to the story, too. I’ve also decided it’ll have some romance in the story, but nothing hard core. No sex for sure. It’s just sweet. Younger heroine meets older hero and because of her age, they can do nothing but make goo-goo eyes at each other…until book two when she comes of age and gets kidnapped… I just have to finish book one first. LOL!

My chosen genre is YA fantasy at the moment and I’ve discovered it’s even harder to write than adult erotica. Fantasy is definitely where my heart lies and what I’ve always wanted to write. I don’t think I was ready to write that before but now I think I’m getting closer. And the book is still going very slowly but it’s definitely coming along. I’m not too pleased with the progress, but it’s something.

After nearly two years of being in the house, I unpacked my classical music CDs and put in my lute music. I had missed it so. It was nice to have it again. It helped soothe me while I wrote.

Anyhoo…I’m glad it’s Friday. I have a movie date with Man tonight – we’re going to see The Dark Knight. YAY!