Excuses, Excuses

I apologize for my absence.

There's been much business and lack of motivation on my part.  I had the county fair to get through, and a novel to edit and send into the OYAN contest.

But all of that was like pulling teeth, since about the beginning of July I've had no motivation.  None.  Zip.

I managed to get everything done, and exceeded everyone's expectations in most areas.  I even managed to finish a third draft of my novel and whisk it off to the OYAN contest ten days before the deadline.

Over the week of fair I felt good.  I was finally getting stuff done.  I was getting to spend time with my friends.  Fair ended.  So I decided to start school to try and keep myself doing stuff.  I seemed to help, but I had problems keeping up, and I managed to get behind within the first week.  On Monday the following week I resolved to do better, and forced myself to get out of bed and get the day started...

...but I got stung by a bee and had a nearly serious reaction.  I spent six hours sleeping after an EpiPen and three doses of benadryl scattered throughout the day.  I didn't even go to dance.

I thought maybe this was supposed to be a wake up call, and on Tuesday I managed to catch up on everything for school.  And then I got behind again....

So here I am, trying not to completely die, and trying to keep myself motivated with the thought of State Fair and Nutcracker Auditions.  I'm hoping some brilliant solution will drop out of the sky for this, but at the moment, it doesn't seem to be happening.

In other news, I'm thinking of totally revamping my blog and starting over.  I'll still keep all the old posts, but I'm going to try to post every Saturday, and it will probably be more of life update-y thingy, since I really don't think I've had enough life experience to be posting about life and writing things. >.<

~Charlotte Grace, the Mind Traveler

Writing...Minus the Inspiration

Welcome back to the Mind Traveler’s diverse thoughts on writing, reading, and…other stuff! 

What do you do when you have no inspiration [like I do right now]?

Option A: Not writing.

 There is always the possibility of throwing the pencil/pen down [or throwing the computer across the room], but why?  What does that accomplish?  Almost always, nothing!  If you get a professional job as a writer, most likely, you will have deadlines and to meet those deadlines, [obviously] you need to write!  Throwing in the towel helps nobody.

On occasion, however, there are exceptions.  Did you know that your brain works on problems even when you’re not thinking about them?  Sometimes taking a break and reading, doing some chores, watching TV or going for a bike ride gives you a chance for inspiration.  Who knows?  Maybe your inspiration will come from the dog dragging its owner down the street as you pedal away.

Option B: Writing

It doesn’t matter if it’s junk, just write whatever “it” might be!

If you’re over there saying, “I have nothing to write,” write down a descriptive of your surroundings, an event that happened recently, the dream you had precisely 6 hours ago, just teach yourself to write no matter what.  One excellent way to do this is 750 Words.  It motivates you to write every day—even if it is a bunch of gibberish—with badges, and goals and what not.  For more info, click the link.

If you know what you want to write, but don’t know how to get there.  Same thing, write down the ugly stuff; it’s called a first DRAFT for a reason.

Not sure how to continue an already started story? Ditto to the above.  The other option is outlining your story.  If you’re like me, you just don’t do that because it gives you writers’ block.  But, in the extreme case, I find outlining helpful.  If you already have your story outlined.  Ignore it.  Write what comes naturally; don’t try to force your characters and your plot to do anything.  You don’t have to follow the straight and narrow path when you’re writing.  Travel through your mind!  Search for alternatives.  Stray away from your familiar box!  You might find that your writing is smoother, cleaner and more unique.

"Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish."

Before I go…PROMOS!!!!

Jotting Down Notes

The Chosen One

~Charlotte Grace, the Mind Traveler