Theresa enjoying the view
For me writer’s block happens when something in the plotting of my book has gone astray. Sometimes it means that one of my two main characters needs more inner conflict but usually I need to go back a few chapters to see where I went wrong. If I get to a part of my own story that bores me, that’s usually where the problem is. At that point I start asking the “what if” questions to find a more exciting solution.
I read somewhere that writers should go to uncomfortable places in their writing…open a vein…have your character do the last thing you would ever think about doing.
In the book I am working on at the moment, I became blocked and realized that my hero was too perfect. He didn’t have enough problems of his own. The pages had been flowing up until page 300 but then everything came to a screeching halt. I went back a few paragraphs, figuring it would be something with the plot, but this time the problem appeared to be with my hero. He was a nice guy but he wasn’t three dimensional. He needed some oomph factor so I went back and highlighted all of HIS areas in the story in BLUE. Then I made his world a little less comfortable by having his ex-wife (who got along perfectly with him before) tell him that her new husband’s job would take them out of the country for a year, maybe two. My hero would have been fine if she didn’t intend to take their 4 year old daughter along with her. My hero has had too much taken away from him in his life. He won’t allow it.
So now, my hero (an FBI agent) is not only trying to find a serial killer, he’s a little off kilter since he is also fighting to keep his daughter close.
What do you do to unblock writer’s block?
My front yard
“There are no mistakes, no coincidences. All events are blessings given to us to learn from.” –Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” –John Powell
“Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst, a spark that creates extraordinary results.” –Anon
“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, “I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.” –Eleanor Roosevelt
Do you have any fun, positive, motivational quotes to share?
Theresa's name tag at the S.F. Conference
Hello everyone! What a wonderful Monday morning! It’s going to be a great week, I can feel it! 
Today I am blogging at the Wet Noodle Posse about entering the RWA contest for unpublished romance writers called the GOLDEN HEART!
Stop by and leave a comment!
Cathy and Mom in Tahoe
If you download pictures to photobucket you can add cool effects to any picture. The picture to the left is of my sister, Cathy, and my mom. We were in Lake Tahoe walking to dinner.
If you’re curious and you want to learn more you can go to http://photobucket.com/ and sign up for free.
Books are amazing!
I have always loved my Super Thesaurus. I love words. Most writers do. Funny thing is, I didn’t always knows that I wanted to be a writer, but I always had a love for words. I liked the way certain words roll off the tip of my tongue. I like the sounds words make as I speak. When I’m writing my novels, there are two things I use a lot. Google for research and my Roget’s Super Thesaurus. Today I needed to use the word “guilt.” My Thesauraus also gave me: 1. blame, culpability, culpa, reprehensiblility, criminality, crime, sin, wrongdoing, liability. 2. remorse, regret, shame, conscience, contrition, disgrace, self-reproach, penitence, compunction. “The avenging fiend that follows us behind with whips and stings.” –Nicholas Rowe.
What book(s) do you like to have handy when you’re working on your manuscript?
Theresa
Every Friday I am going to write a little something about my writing experience. I have been writing for about 14 years now. Until this past year, my writing hours have been sporadic at best. Now that three of my children are off on their own, I have been able to spend a big chunk of my days writing. I am blessed. I am grateful. Writing is my passion. I also play the piano. Practice makes perfect. That has always been true with playing the piano. But I never realized that the more I wrote everyday, the faster I would become. How can the ideas flow from brain to the keyboard faster? I understood that more hours spent writing would, of course, produce more words and thus more pages, but I never realized that my brain would become trained to work harder, faster.
I recently wrote 20,000 words in two weeks. I revised my romantic suspense and felt good about it when I sent it off to my agent. Now, I am trying to finish my 90,000 word thriller in 8 weeks. I think I can do it. Yes, it will be a first draft, but I like where it’s going. For me, faster is proving to be better. I’m amazed.
What about you? Do you find that the more time you have to write, the faster you become?
