Ugh, not much progress on Grave Touched. It’s just not happening as fast as I would like. I left my poor characters in a weird spot and I want to finish this scene, but I’ve been avoiding it for days for reasons I don’t understand.
It might have something to do with a resurrected project I am kinda sorta working on (although not a single word has been written yet — it’s all plotty stuffs and worldbuilding stuffs). The original novel was my 2009 NaNoWriMo novel, Soulfire which is dark fantasy/dystopian featuring muses and the eradication of creativity (did I mention the world is dark?). That part is being used for a different project I’m calling The Last Muse. But in the original Soulfire, I veered way off from the seedling of the idea, which I am using for this version which going to be New Adult. With me so far?
So the name is staying but the seedling idea is what I’m pursuing. It hit me so hard and so fast that I’ve been trying like hell to keep up. Today I was getting scene ideas. And naturally, I shouldn’t be working on this because I’m supposed to be working on Grave Touched. I feel guilty about even thinking about it, but it won’t leave me alone! Soooo I might do a bit of writing on this, but my work on GT must be done for the day before I even think of working on this.
Novels, how you wound me.
Muse, how you spite me.
Brain, how you devour me.
(…not sure where that ^^ came from).
Ahem. Stats!
Running total: 24,068 words (creeping, I tell you, creeping!)
Words remaining: 10,932 words
Body count: We’re all alive at the moment.
Feeling: Torn in two. #sadface
Eye report: Twinge-y. No loopy pills were taken during the composition of this post.
Weaver of Words 
Keep going, Erin! And I’d listen to your muse and follow where it leads. 🙂
Thanks Ellen! I’m definitely going to do that!
I have been in that exact same situation, where you are in the middle of writing rather a dramatic scene, but you can’t bring yourself to finish it. I found that with me, it was because I was worried about getting the words right. It’s so hard to transfer what you imagine the scene to look like in your mind, to the actual page. But you just got to write something down. Even if it’s just the next sentence or word, writing down something will help you finish that scene.
Great advice, Stephanie! I did work on it last night and got 800 words. Not perfect, but that’s for editing. 😉
I currently write three projects at a time, because of what you face now. I don’t know if what I do will help, but figured I’d share just in case. In the end, this process keeps me from feeling guilty and lets me move forward.
I pick one as a primary project. That project gets most my writing time/word count. As I’m a plotter, I tend to write 2 or more (depending the length they turn out to be) scenes/plot moments. As for the other two… I just do one scene each.
Hope that was of some help.
Gloria, that is a *great* idea. I have tried doing multiple projects in the past, and it did work. I will give it a shot. 😀
It’s always interesting when old projects creep back into our brains and demand our attention. That’s happened to me a few times, too. Sometimes I suspect that in the course of working on a newer project, I’ve unconsciously unlocked a previously locked door in the older one, but who knows why it happens? I hope you’re able to make good progress on both fronts! 🙂
Denise, that’s a good point. It’s interesting how the writer’s mind works, isn’t it?
Erin,
When it happens to me, it always seems to be because there are things I need to learn about the scene or the whole WIP. I don’t force it any more – I give myself to the project that’s begging me with huge puppy-dog eyes and muddy paws…
And that always ends up helping me to resolve whatever issues I’m having with the other project, too – so I win both ways.
Best of luck with both projects – they sound like fun!
Thanks Shanjeniah! I have tried to brute force scenes, but it’s not always effective. Maybe my muse needs a break from GT.
I’ve never liked any scene I wrote by force. Right now, I’m working though a pre-editing plan for a novel I forced most of. The story is good….but the writing…ack!
May you find the joy and life in both stories. Until then, creeping words are still words! =)
Thanks, Shanjeniah! You have a point there. And yes, words is words is words, as I always say!