I had another blog post mostly written, but when I went to finish it last night, I decided I hated it. It was about how writing is like Advent, with all the waiting and hoping, and it was a bunch of crap. Here's what it said:
"No one panic. I'm not going to get all religious on you.Well, maybe a little.
For anyone who's not a good Catholic girl like myself (stop laughing!), Advent is the four weeks before Christmas where Christians anticipate the birth of Jesus. It's a period of reflection and waiting. Of pondering new beginnings. A period of hope.
I was sitting in church the other day and it struck me that writing is a lot like Advent. Although we spend most of our time working on our current projects, we also spend an awful lot of time waiting. We wait for responses to queries. We wait for word on our requested manuscripts. We wait for the latest edits. We wait for... Well, you get the picture.
We also do a lot of reflection. Man, that last chapter really sucked. Wow, did I really write that sentence? That was pretty damned good! Some of us do a lot of praying, too. Please, please, please, let that agent love my manuscript! Please let the advance be enough to buy the new car. (Hey, miracles can happen.)"
See what I mean? So, now I don't have anything to write about. Which makes me wonder. Is it possible to run out of words? Run out of things to write? I have no problem coming up with ideas for stories and books. But real life or blog posts? The well may be dry.
Sure I could write about Harlequin's lame-brain idea to suck newbie writers of their life savings. Or Tiger Woods. Or numerous other things I see in the news. It's all been done. Done to death, I might add.
I could write about writing (like my abandoned blog post) but that's been covered, too. And much more eloquently than I could ever do. So, now you're stuck with this rambling mess. Heh.
So, I pose this question to my fellow Working Stiffs and any other bloggers out there. What do you do when you run out of things to say? Or am I the only one this happens to?
On another note, I want to give a big CONGRATULATIONS to our good friends at MYSTERY LOVERS BOOKSHOP, winners of the 2010 Raven Award. Congratulations Mary Alice and Richard!
5 comments:
I never seem to run out of things to say, just time and energy to write them down.
I blog every week at my own site, and sometimes I think "no one is going to like this" or "who cares?" but that's usually when I get the most comments -- though most of them are directly to me instead of on the posting (why is that?)
But I liked your advent analogy. It is about waiting... and for me, I wonder some days if I've waited too long to do the novel writing.... that's when blogging seems infinitely easier!
Joyce, yesterday I almost blogged about having nothing to blog about. I even posted on Facebook about my blog muse having taken off for warmer climates. But then I watched the news and the whole piece about those two police stories poured out.
Yes, I run out of things to say. But somehow, I manage to dig something up. Whether it's anything someone would want to read? That's another question.
I run out of things to say all the time. Between you guys, and the Good Girls, and now the Southern Authors, not to mention guest blogging every time a book comes out, I frequently find myself with nothing to say. Probably a sign of being too involved in my own little world and not aware enough of the real one. Although, I have to say, the whole Tiger Woods mess has gotten way out of hand. As someone on Twitter said, if he cheats on the golf course, then I want to know. If he cheats on his wife, it's none of my business. So thanks for not writing about Cheetah, Joyce.
My word verification is theandes. I can't help but feel like it should be a sign. Maybe a research trip?
I'm so glad I'm not the only one!
Pat, it's never too late to write that novel.
Annette, maybe out muses took off together. They're pissed that we didn't take them to Bouchercon.
Jennie, I think being involved in our own worlds is part of the problem. When I worked outside the home I had plenty of fodder. Now my days consist of reading blogs, news, writing, cleaning, cooking, laundry, etc. Not exactly conducive to scintillating topics. Now, if I wanted to blog about the best cleaning products, or a new recipe--I could definitely do that. And bore people to death.
Having something to say or not, just getting focused on the screen and where I am in the manuscript can cause the same 'freezing of the brain pan' feeling, and cause staring at the screen thinking I have nothing to say. It takes a lot of mental exercise to kick the muddy pudding out of the mind and get busy.
We need more Noetic Science.
Patg
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