Friday, June 12, 2009

Setbacks and leaps forward

Yesterday, I had a bit of a setback for me. I started questioning my abilities and threw myself quite a pity party. Then, I took a deep breath, put everything else aside, and focused on one of the things that wasn't working in my story. I hadn't made any progress with it in over a month and to tell the truth, I was kind of avoiding working on it. Skipping it and working on other stuff. 

Well, yesterday I decided that I had to work on that. I think I was trying to prove something to myself. That I can write. That I am capable. That I am doing the right thing by spending all this time writing. And guess what? I really moved forward. I made it work and more. My brain cleared, and I made real progress. It was as if someone told me I couldn't, and I got my back up and said, "Yes, I can," and set out to prove it. 

Do you find that happening to you sometimes?

23 comments:

Natalie Whipple said...

Yay! I don't have to tell you that I've been there. Good on ya for picking yourself up and moving forward.

Rena Jones said...

Yes, this happens to me too, and it gets me totally distracted. The best advice I've ever received is to write from the heart and then PUT IT AWAY! When I look at it later, I can tell if it's good, bad, horrid, or needs to be tossed. Congrats on getting back on track! :)

Jody Hedlund said...

Oh for sure! We definitely need to give ourselves a pep talk once in a while!

Robin M said...

Yes, it has happened to me. I am so glad you were able to work through it and prove to yourself you could do it. Good going!

Cindy R. Wilson said...

So glad to hear of your progress. I think we all deal with this sometimes and it takes that extra bit of motivation and confidence to get us out of our slump.

Chantele Sedgwick said...

I definitely get those days. Quite often actually.:)

Davin Malasarn said...

Congratulations, Lois! That's wonderful to hear. Yes, this happens to me all the time. In fact, I wish you could have eavesdropped on a chat I was having with Michelle, because most of it was me whining about how pathetic I am and how horrible my book is.

Tess said...

All the time! So glad you worked through it...really, it is the best option for days like that.

My pity party often serves Ben and Jerry's - that helps too :D

Sherrie Petersen said...

I think we all have those days :)
Congrats on working through it!

Nayuleska said...

scarily this happened to me this week too. :) We can do it !

lotusgirl said...

Thanks, everyone, for all the encouragement. It's nice in a way to know that everyone goes through these times. We just have to keep working and getting better.

Davin, Poor Michelle got an earful from me yesterday too. She's a great cheerleader though, isn't she? I'd worked through most of my angst by the time I was chatting with her, so whew!

Davin Malasarn said...

That's hilarious! Yes, poor Michelle indeed. We need to schedule our pity parties better so she isn't overwhelmed. She's incredibly comforting, though.

Danyelle L. said...

*hugs*

I'm glad you were able to move forward. :D I get feeling like this from time to time, but the only thing that seems to make it go away is sitting down and going to work, whether or not my confidence is with me or not. :)

Jim Harrington said...

Happens way too often to me. Glad to read you overcame your block. It feels great when that happens, doesn't it.

Rebecca Ramsey said...

Are you kidding? It happens all the time. Good for you for working yourself out of the black hole. I'm glad things are looking up!

Michelle D. Argyle said...

Lois, you little sweetie, you really ARE a great writer. And we all deserve pity parties every now and then. How else would we pick ourselves up and write about the depths of despair in our characters? I'm afraid that both you and Davin will get lots of earfuls from me as soon as I start querying. And I've complained enough on my blog lately, so we're all even. :)

Anonymous said...

All. The. Time. Yes, I do. Hang in there!

Pen Pen said...

It’s like 3:15 am here for me and I gotta sleep, so I’ll be back later today to read ur blog, but I couldn’t go to sleep without letting u know that I am officially tagging you! Go to my blog and read the post :You’re It! To find out what the heck I’m talking about! ☺

Unknown said...

Oh, yes. I understand entirely.

And it usually happens when I have a hard to write scene (like now). I try to avoid it, skip over it, but it nags at me and mocks me.

In the end, your solution is the only right one: write through it!

Pen Pen said...

:) Lovely Lovely!! There's a quote I love that says "If you feel like your writing isn't good enough, lower your standards for a few days." Even writing something you don't think is good enough is a first draft- A first draft should be just for you and be bare boned. I think what sets me back the most sometimes is trying to make a first draft perfect. You don't reach perfect till like the 7th draft :) Don't judge your bare bones until they're covered in flesh and dressed up! :)...that last part was kind of morbid....

Jenni James said...

YES! All the time! It's one of the things I struggle with constantly. And like you, I try and shove it on the back burner and focus on other things so I won't have to think about it. LOL! The funny thing is I'm completely crippled until i do finally face that problem head on and tackle it. Once it's out of the way, my writing just flows. Jenni

José Iriarte said...

Oh, totally. I've been struggling recently, in fact, with a story that has been giving me fits.

Good luck!

lotusgirl said...

Thanks again for all the encouragement! Writers rock! You guys are the best. I'm glad we're all rising together. Good luck to all y'all getting out of your stuck or down places too.