Some progress is better than no progress at all….

August 10, 2010 at 6:17 am (Grumble, Possible directions..., Uncategorized) (, , , , , , , , )

So……………
……………..I am making some progress with “the whole writing thing”.

Writing approximately 2,000 to 3,000 words every 48 hours. I am not facing a writer’s block at the moment so much as I am facing a writer’s scatter-brain.

I have at least fifteen stories on the go, most of which I haven’t touched in months, a few of which I have added a few thousand words to in the last week — and two of which I have just created story lines and backgrounds for in the last few days.

If that’s frustrating to digest mentally, trust me, it’s a tad more frustrating to endure. I have so many stories I want to work on RIGHT NOW and hundreds more that I eventually want to find time to work on….and life is so bloody short, it seems — will I have the time, find the time, make the time to breathe life into these creations?

Furthermore, it’s not as though I am doing a good job of prioritizing which stories should be written first — I seem to be writing those which “write themselves” the most…..The stories that I WANT most to work on — the horror novels — seem to take the most time, work, mindfulness, and effort to develope, and they are not coming along easily. They are a struggle to write, and I do not want to rush them in any way….this is going to sound like a cop-out, but I think that I will write (my best) work exactly when I am mindful enough, focused enough, driven enough, and of rich enough imagination to give them a full and proper expression through the written word.

Currently, I have a number of paranormal projects on the go, and they are coming to me easily enough (stories about demons, real or imagined, emotional or actual, seem somehow very “easy” to write)…some are more lengthy than others and some seem to suggest that there might be enough material for a series, others might have more appeal as a stand-alone novel….

Then there are the contemporary romance stories that I am working on, which seem to have the essence of a good story, but these Harlequin-type novels are not coming “easily” as I am currently not feeling particularly driven where romantic notions are concerned….not exactly inspired, as it were….in THAT department….

So, as it sits, I will likely have a novel-length 80,000 word plus paranormal work out in the next few months, if I can ACTUALLY focus on just the one. If this SCATTER-BRAINEDNESS continues in the coming months, I can see myself finishing anywhere between three and five such novels in the next year….

Yet it would be soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo nice to finish a solid, respectable, perfectly terrifying absolutely nerve rattling horror novel in that time.

My kingdom for a horror manuscript of 100,000 words entailing a battle between good and evil with no obvious winner in the resolution of the tale!!!!!!!!

Okay, maybe that is enough self-absorbed rambling-on for one night.

This is, after all, intended to be a blog about the misadventures of an amateur authoress…..and a little progress is better than no progress at all. Time will tell if the effort involved in the process will be rewarded by success, validated by publication, or forgotten in failure.

It’s 1am. Shouldn’t have had that last coffee — if mom was here, I’d get an earful. I know better – I do – but coffee and writing go together like sour cream and perogies —- it’s unimaginable to eat one without the other.

Oh great.

Now I’m hungry.

So much for my diet…………………..

Sincere regards,

Amanda M. Holt
Amateur Authoress (And Would-Be Creatoress of Awe-Inspiring Horror Novel)

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