More Crafty Stuff and A Congrats to Anya Bast!
Aug
16
2006

Firstly, congratulations to Anya, her Edge of Sweetness is out today from Ellora’s Cave! It’s a BDSM themed quickie that I was fortunate enough to get to read early and I loved it. So go buy it already!

The rest will be all writerly. I don’t normally write about craft here but I notice I have a bit this week. I don’t know why but it just occurred to me and I thought I’d put it up…

I got seven thousand words written on Threat of Darkness in the last two days, pretty good especially as I’d been feeling a bit of that mid book slump. I’m past it now and it got me thinking on how writers deal with periods in every book when you just don’t want to write it anymore.

To ramble a bit, I finally had the time to sit down and read this month’s RWR. I read “the letter” before I left on vacation and that was enough for then. Now I don’t read it cover to cover and think of it as the “romance bible” but I do usually find one or two useful things in every issue. So I saw an interview with Nora Roberts inside and I read it (and I talk about it a few entries ago)

I know some people love to hate Nora Roberts. I’m not one of them. I may not love every single one of her books (and god knows she’s got a million of them and some of them are my favorite romances evar!) but I admire her as a writer. Her ability to sit down and do the work. You don’t have a career like hers without some serious balls and committment and I like that.

Anyway, her main thing throughout the interview was “sit your ass down and do the work.” And I have to agree with that. There are a million reasons not to be able to get work done every day. Your kids are needing you, your partner needs you, you have laundry to do, you have a day job (kids or not), you don’t feel well, you’re tired, you want to watch TV – whatever, they’re all compelling reasons.

I hit that place in every book. Every book. Some books more than once. I. Just. Don’t. Want. To. I can’t get in touch with my characters. I hit a wall in the action. I go from 3K every night to 20 or 50 words. I start thinking about other books. If I get this way in the middle of a sex scene it’s even worse because I can’t write around a sex scene, I have to finish it and each sex scene should mean something and it really gets me.

Anyway, generally, I just push through. I make myself push past it and write. Even if it’s just 20 words. Sometimes I’ll go back and do an over read and edit through to where I’m stuck. This helps most often actually because I feel like I’m back in the whole of the book rather than going scene by scene as it tends to happen to me these days because I’m editing multiple books and writing too and I have to lay things aside and pick them up later which leads to a sort of disconnect fromthe whole of the project.

Anyway, I’m past it for now. This particular book has had two such places for me. I did put it aside two months ago to write Taking Chase which helped but when I picked it up again, the same slump was there and I just sort of wrote around it. Last night I punched through it and dealt with it and I’m hoping to be done with the “I don’t wannas” with this book.

Anyway, I suppose that Nora is right. This is a job. It’s the best damned job I’ve ever had and I want to keep it. And writing is so fun and interesting but sometimes it can be tedious too. You’ve got to work past the tedious to find the fun again.

3 comments to “More Crafty Stuff and A Congrats to Anya Bast!”

  1. Shelli Stevens
    August 16th, 2006 at 12:26 pm · Link

    I saw Nora speak at Nationals, and really gained a new respect for her. I’m not crazy about her books, but she’s very inspirational and a fabulous speaker!



  2. Melany
    August 19th, 2006 at 6:48 am · Link

    Yep I have to get past that point for my other author ego right now. I need to just sit down and write darn it.

    I’ve not read much Nora but I’ve really gained a respect for her.

    Lany



  3. Lauren Dane
    August 19th, 2006 at 9:55 am · Link

    Lany, I love Nora. I think she’s got a great sense of humor and I love her characters. I think I enjoy her JD Robb face most because Eve and Roarke are just outstanding characters and she continues to keep them interesting and growing which is pretty damned hard after 20something books. But I love her Born in Trilogy and her Ardmore books too. Oh and some of her 80s titles like Carnal Innocence.

    Shelli – she’s a workhorse. I dig that. I also really love no nonense people and she’s definitely one.