Monday, May 14, 2012

Put your heart in it.

The one thing I've realized this week is you have to have your heart in it. I love writing, but if my heart doesn't feel it, it shows (I know you can tell in some of my blog posts). You can see the difference. The new manuscript I'm working on has gotten me excited that I can move on and work on something else. This is something I've know before, but this one's different. The problem I'm having is I know where I want to go I just don't "see" it. When I say "see" it, I mean visualize in my head. I see things like movies, snippits of a scene that play over and over in my head. Sometimes they are so real that I begin to think they are signs from someone else's life, someone possibly who isn't living anymore, but I'm not going there.

Like I said, when I don't feel it it shows and it's scary. I know the feeling will pass because I've been through this before. My current MS had me super excited at first. It was rolling along. I had a loose outline, so I knew where things were going. Then I hit a bump. I worked through the snag, but writing is becoming a little awkward. I think maybe because it's a first draft (I've haven't written one in a year). I feel like some scenes are getting all the info down while others are just dialogue, looking like a skeleton. I think I'm trying to get it all in when I know I have rounds of revisions to do after. So, the answer is to keep moving and finding inspiration where ever I can. The other strange thing about this one is music. Usually, a song is to blame for a story to spark and with this one, nada, nothing. I'm almost dying to find music to match it to help me "see" it.

It's funny because when I wrote my first novel, I knew nothing--no rules, no crits, in a way, no pressure. I'm trying to find that again. To write it like I know nothing, getting the story out and then revise it with the critical eye. Getting back to innocence.

I know the common answer would be take a break, and yes, it does help, but I feel lost without writing anything or working on a project to get it to the next step. I try to give myself a deadline that way I can produce something.

How do you get your heart back in it?

I hope all you moms had a wonderful Mother's Day!!

Have a great day!