Word Count & Stumbling Along

Posted Pete Bauer Author, Gabby Wells, Marketing, Novella, Writing

I didn’t do it.  I didn’t keep up my 1500 words a day.  I tried, but the empty page glared back at me this week.

My problems were three-fold.  First and foremost, I was burned out.  I have never written 1500 words a day in my life.  Not solely toward a book.  Sure, I probably write more than that just working and emailing.  But the nightly 1500 work effort was new and my creative tank drained to empty.

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Secondly, I lost the story.  The second novella’s plot is more complex than the first one, which was a pretty direct line between beginning and end.  The second novella bobs and weaves and when I needed to attack, I had no more punches left.  There was one evening I spent two hours looking at the screen trying to pry words, any words, out of my head and onto the page.  None were forthcoming.

It wasn’t until I took a fresh look at the story again and worked through some vague plot ideas until they were razor sharp, that the story was able to flow again.  This is the way writers block always rears its ugly head with me.  It’s not that I can’t write.  It’s because I don’t know what I’m supposed to write next.

Lastly, I enjoyed life a little more this week.  Even though you don’t have to keep your Lenten sacrifice on Sundays during Lent, I was still writing 1500 words a day, including Sundays.  This past week, I took the day off.  Monday was also the opening day for Major League Baseball and my son and my best friend took in some innings at the Rays/Jays season opener.  And challenges at work and health issues with family and friends was like a vice grip on my creativity that hindered my writing.

However, once the story cleared up in my head and things settled down in my personal life, the writing quickly returned to form and I was still able to collect a little over 4,000 words this week.  Not bad, all things considering.

Hopefully next week will be less interesting and more productive.

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