Get back to that keyboard

Well, it's been a while since I wrote a proper blog (no developments on the attempt to earn from it as yet) and I thought it was time to start up again.

The last few months have been a little difficult - my depression makes it hard to find the enthusiasm to do anything - and as a result my writing has stopped completely. 

It's a bit of a vicious cycle as I feel even more down when I stare at the screen and can't even write a simple piece.

Anyway, my wife has finally convinced me to pick up one of the many part written/half conceived stories and have a serious go at finishing it off. 

At the same time I'm also looking into putting together a few of my short stories and creating a Kindle book. If nothing else, it will keep me occupied and might even be enjoyed by at least one person...

The hardest part for me now is deciding which story I feel most comfortable in trying to develop into a book. They say you should write what you know which has reduced it to two choices. I love sci-fi, so that offers one of my routes, but I have started a book with hints of self biography (only in so much as the main character has led a similar life, but without all the cock-ups) and a list of characters drawn from real life.

To be honest, the sci-fi feels a bit of a shambles (different parts seem to be different books) so I suspect I will be writing option 2.

I'm going to try to blog as much as possible, as well as work on the book every day. Maybe the last few months will prove to be the push I needed to actually finish writing at least one book.

Thanks for visiting

Neil

Lost in a plot maze

A little while ago I began writing a short story. It was pretty much fully formed in my mind and just needed committing to paper.

I wrote the first few pages in one sitting and took a break which turned into several weeks. Today I returned to try and complete it.

Somehow I seem to have found myself in a maze. I don't know how I got to the point I'm at, nor how to get out of it. I seem to have the options of continuing and hoping it works out or abandoning it altogether.

What do I do?

The annoying part of this is the fact I know what should be happening, but the story won't listen. It seems to want to ramble along in a, seemingly, endless fashion.

I think I'm going to have to revisit on a different day and try to wield a sharp pair of editing scissors. In the meantime I'll desperately try and do some work on my, currently neglected, novel. Back to paid work next week, so I need to get some writing done while I have the chance.

Have a good weekend

Stuck firmly in the bog of self doubt...

Well, it's been more than a week since I last wrote a single word of my novel.

I was feeling pretty happy about it until I had a wander around Waterstones; I suddenly found myself faced with the truth – my story has no originality, nor is it what I wanted to write. I seem to have lost my way somewhere along the road.

Result? I keep staring at the screen and wondering what went wrong. The story excited me when I came up with it, I had confidence it would be a good read (I'm honest enough to know it wasn't ever going to be a classic) and feedback I received was positive.

Then I walked into a shop full of books and realised I could find versions of my story all over the place.

I've been writing my blog and mentally writing a short ghost story while the rest of my mind is left to its own devices in the hope it will come up with a solution (I like to leave my mind to do the work!), but at present the novel is firmly bogged down.

I suspect I have two options; either throw it in the 'never mind pile' and forget it or keep writing and see where it takes me. As I have committed all my energy to this project I should probably keep going and see whether it improves. If not, at least I'm writing and learning.

Of course, this might just be a case of self doubt undermining me. Perhaps I'm writing the next big thing (if only...).