Last month, I sort of went through a writing block. It was tough to move forward even though I knew exactly what I needed to do. Somehow, I still managed to write every day. Unfortunately, I knew the words weren’t great and it was one of those things where I’d write stuff down to try and get unstuck then come around and rewrite the scenes again. (I’m not sure how many times I did that per scene.) And that’s for a short story that was only 10,000 words! It just wasn’t my month.
Eventually, I finished a second draft which I revisited today after letting it rest for two weeks. It’s not as bad as I thought. It falls apart in the second third, so I have to rewrite some more, haha.
While I was letting the previously mentioned story sit, I started play writing on another idea I had for a story. I was really excited to dive into it. Until the other day when I managed to corrupt the file through what I’m going to think of as a comedy of errors but was really my fault for not unmounting the USB drive properly when I used it on the tablet. Oops. Now, normally, if I lose a lot of words on a story (it was at 11,000 words on that last night), I end up pretty miserable. This time that wasn’t the case! Losing all those words actually made me a little excited because I could start fresh and make an outline using what I’d discovered in the play writing.
I was a little disappointed though. There were some things I didn’t want to rewrite 100%. And today, I managed to find the text file that CHKDSK put the remnants of the file into! So I now have the outline and I have the original text. I’m still going to be doing a whole rewrite, but I feel better about knowing the old text is still somewhere.
So, I’m not one for self-promotion. I’m actually really bad at it, and I’ve decided to accept that. I don’t really market, and I try not to spam my twitter because I can’t stand when other authors do nothing but tweet about their book. BUT I do have some stuff to share.
First thing is that Ruin is free this weekend in order to support a pretty smart book review site. It’s called the Intergalactic Academy, and they review young adult science fiction novels. They just reviewed Ruin today. The giveaway code is at the bottom of the review. It’s good until tomorrow!
Also, read an ebook week starts tomorrow as well. Ruin is still going to be free of course to support the Intergalactic Academy, but starting on the fifth, it will be half off all week on Smashwords (making it only $2) and the Two Brothers, a companion novella, is name your own price, so that means it can be downloaded for free with no obligation to pay. There are going to be a lot of other books on sale and free, so keep an eye out!
Authors, if you have books going on sale on Smashwords, visit the This post on the Self-Published Author Lounge to put your book in a listing. Readers, you should also keep an eye out on the Self-Published Author’s Lounge as they’ll start listing books on sale on Smashwords. You might find something good to read.
Ashlee Scheuerman
I wouldn’t say I’ve had a block (I don’t actually believe in them, personally); I’ve been languishing over the thought of a massive re-write, though, and that guilt complex is sneaking up on me. Time to just throw myself at it, much as you did, and emerge the other side regardless of how bad I feel at the time of writing. 😉
I’m glad you were able to find a backup of the other file!
~Ashlee
http://ashleesch.com
http://theDragonsHoard.bigcartel.com
N.M. Martinez
I call it a block because it is– it’s like constipation. It’s not that no words come to mind, just that they’re hard and uncomfortable and kinda painful. XD
But yeah, the best method through it is usually so sit yourself down and face it. For that, Neil Gaiman has crafted a handy motivational poster. He also wrote this journal entry that sounds sooooo familiar.
Carla
So glad you were able to recover that file! Even if you’re planning on rewriting, it’s nice to know you’ve got that original to work from now. And I’ll take that as a warning to not be lazy and unmount my USB devices properly from now on. 😉
I read the review at Intergalactic Academy – congratulations! Very positive and complimentary!
N.M. Martinez
Yes, always unmount your devices! I wasn’t quite sure how to do it on the newest Andriod OS (or Andriod in general) and I’d been too lazy to look it up. But you better believe I know how to know.
Thank you! I was pretty terrified. They’re both very shrewd reviewers.
Annie Neugebauer
Oh my gosh, I’ve been there. What a feeling. I’m glad it’s working out for you this time, though. I have one instance, in particular, where I wrote a piece of flash fiction like it was being pulled through me by some external hand — you know when the words are fast and good and it just feels right? But then I lost it, comedy of errors as you put it, and had to rewrite. I still don’t think the rewrite has that indescribable magic that the original had, and it breaks my heart to think about it.
Congrats on that review. What a fantastic opportunity and excellent review. Really cool. I will try to check out The Two Brothers soon, as well. Don’t be afraid to self-promote; you’re nowhere near overbearing on Twitter. In fact I miss a lot of your stuff because you’re so quiet! I can’t imagine you taking it too far.
N.M. Martinez
Oh no! I know that feeling too, where you lose something and the rewrite never feels quite as brilliant as the original.
Thanks. I’m terrified of self promotion. I have been meaning to explain my thoughts on it, and I’ll get to it one of these days. I have actually created a separate twitter account for the spam, and even that I limit to twice a day or so. I’m hoping as I have more books to offer, I’ll get less squeamish about promotions.