The virtues of taking a break

 February 27, 2017

A break can be a wonderful thing.  I find when I am stuck on something, a plot twist, how to move the story forwards, or how to fill in gaps, that you need to step back and relax.  You are probably way to close to it and need to get a little perspective.

I try to take my dog for a walk every morning. I will use this time to get my thoughts in order and to work through whatever I’m currently working on. I might hash out a conversation between my protagonist and whoever he’s dealing with. I can also work on how a scene is going to go down, working on different angles, brainstorming ways to make it interesting. When I’m stuck I’ll also mentally go over where I’m stuck, why I’m stuck, and start listing off possible ways to get through the obstacle.  Won’t lie, sometimes a good night’s sleep will help me as well. My subconscious will calm my nerves an idea will hit me like a thunderbolt!

Taking a step back will also allow you to come back and look at whatever you are working on more objectively.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve finished something and thought this was great! I put it down and get to work on a new project and then go back to the back burner. It often isn’t quite the modern Shakespeare I was remembered.

That’s where I’m at right now as well.  I’m working on the final scene for the tentatively titled Red Magic. I have a few things I want to go in and add back. However I have several other stories that I seem to remember being great. I have the unenviable task of going back to them and going over them again. This is helpful as it is no longer fresh in my mind and in some ways I’ll be looking at it as a reader might. “That’s not too bad.” “That’s really good.” “What the hell was I thinking?” Those things and more in my future!

In update news – I didn’t get as much writing in this week as I had wanted. With the coming of spring all of the things I have been putting off in the yard can’t be put off any longer. I had to replace a section of fence that was literally starting to fall down. It wasn’t too difficult, just time consuming.

As a milestone I’ve kept up this weekly ramble that I call a blog going for a month now. I’ve been steadily tweeting more and liking and following other like minded writers. It’s a start and as I get more comfortable I hope to get more out there and get more followers.

/ramble over

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Moving the Ball Forward

Image
  March 18, 2018 Yeah, I’ve been slacking on updates. I’ve been busy. Work, home life, and writing. Some changes coming to the home, big ones, scary, but exciting. The real news I want to talk about is that coming soon I’ll have a mailing list, newsletter, and in thanks for signing up you can get a digital copy of my short story The Demon Phone. It’s really the first misadventure of Vince West and his being thrust into the world of the Unseen.  I’ve gotten positive feedback from the few people who have read it and I’m excited to get it out there. Next up – I’m having No Soul, No Service looked over. Once I get that back and make updates I’ll be pushing forward to get it up on Amazon. My scheduled launch date is no later than June 6th. Time is always slipping away but I figure with a firm deadline I have something to work towards. I’ve actually been good and working instead of playing WoW, SWTOR, or just putzing around on social media. When the mailing list is live I’ll post a ...
Read more

Spring is in the air!

Image
  April 8, 2018 April is in full swing and so is every blooming flower around here. This year I’m not doing Camp Nano. I did it on a whim last year, and won, but this year I’ve got too much going on.  While I’m having No Soul, No Service being edited I’m hip deep in revisions for Angels Kiss. It’s been fairly clean as this is a later pass, except I found a character mentioned later in the book as if he had been introduced earlier. Needless to say I’m going back and adding this guy in a few places. The joys of revisions. This pass of revisions is also allowing me to continue to add to my world bible. It’s growing and filled with characters and some descriptions. I need to go and find some images for reference. Once I’m done with this pass of revisions I’m going to get back to work on book 3 – Barghests Bite! I’m still on track for release of No Soul in June. I’ve gotten my newsletter up and running and I even have a few subscribers. I put my first short story up as a gift to th...
Read more

Stone of Power by Kimberly A. Riley

Image
  May 30, 2017 I almost never win a contest. Just a part of life. Sure I enter them, especially ones online, but I end up reading about the winners. That isn’t the case this time. I entered a fellow authors drawing for a copy of their book and low and behold I won! I even got a signed copy, so nya nya!  The book is Stone of Power , the first in the series by  author and  fellow Austinite  Kimberly Riley. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting her several times at some of our writing meetups and she’s fantastic.  A fellow geek, gamer, and kindred spirit!  Stone of Power is a sci-fi novel about a team who help protect the Earth from different dimensions who are at war, and Earth in the middle. I’m only a few chapters into the book so far but it’s pretty fast paced, the characters are interesting, and the premise of the novel intrigues me. As a geek I’ve often been interested in other dimensions and this is taking me right there. The novel clocks in at 246 pag...
Read more