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Source: Frustrated Writer. From the book, 'Kid Confidential: An Insider's Guide to Grown-Ups'. Published by Bloomsbury US. (Walker).
So the above image will give you a pretty good idea of my writing frustrations while trying to continue writing my YA paranormal romancy type novel "Bite Me!"
I have been working on it for about six months now and I have hit a major roadblock. I am about 35,000 words done, and I know exactly where I want the story to end up, who gets killed off, who falls in love with who, etc, etc. However, it is the inbetween stuff that I can't get around. It just feels dry and plain boring. And if there is anything I DON'T want my writing to be labelled as, it's boring. I have been pulling my hair out, moping around and staring at the monitor in such a depressed manner that my poor husband has started wondering if I am going to be okay ever again. Now, for those of you with an interest in Summer and the gang, DO NOT PANIC! I promise I will finish writing it. I have a plan for it, you see...The first 35,000 words is currently being edited by my amazing dad (who is an English teacher, and a self-published author himself...I plan on doing an interview on this blog with him in the very near future) and I am hoping to release it sometime in the new year (date TBA) as the first episode of Bite Me! What I am hoping to achieve by releasing the book in episodic form is to just get it out there, get people interested in Summer and her friends. Also, if I have enough people nagging me for the second episode, I know I will be able to get on with writing it. I work much better with a deadline! In the meantime, I am distracting myself by writing a new novel that is totally different to Bite Me! in every way possible. This particular novel I have had outlined and lying around for the last year and a half. It is one of the three books that I had started writing when my computer crashed and I lost everything. This one was the furthest along at about 40,000 words when I lost it. Needless to say I had no desire to try and rewrite it for a very long time. Losing so much of your own work in that manner is very disheartening. Even now, as I begin to rewrite it, I am sad because I know I can't recapture what I wrote exactly. Nevertheless, it is giving me a much needed break from my other writerly frustrations. So, what is this new novel? I hear you ask (or maybe that's just in my head - I wouldn't discount my being a bit crazy o_0). It is a Christian Historical Romance (like I said, completely different to Bite Me!), set in Bonogin, QLD, Australia (which also happens to be where I live). Months of research and careful thought has gone into the planning of this book. In my next post I will share with you all the authors that influenced me to want to write one of these. Here the first little bit of it to whet your appetite: Faith Hills By Susan M. Hocking © December 2012 Chapter 1 February, 1888 Clickety-clack, clickety-clack, clickety-clack. The rhythmic sway and shudder of the steam train was gently coaxing Arabella Clarke into a light slumber. Heaven knew she needed the sleep. She had been on the run for close to a week and she had not had the peace of mind to allow herself to really rest. Even on board the steamship Rodondo, from Sydney to Brisbane, she had been unable to sleep. Not only was she still very much afraid for her safety, but the sea passage had been a rough one. She had always thought herself to have had a strong constitution, but even if she had been able to control her stomach from the constant pitching and rolling of the ship, the eleven other passengers squeezed into the tiny cabin with her did not, and she was anything if not sympathetic. Those six days, she had decided, had been hell on earth. Definitely not a trip she would like to endure again. Unless, of course, she was to stay in an upper-class cabin. She had spent most of the six days on board the Rodondo confined to her tiny bunk, which was probably only meant for a child, in a very cramped, putrid smelling cabin, trying to keep her stomach contents to herself. She could have paid for an upper-class cabin, but she had wanted to remain inconspicuous. A single young woman, without a chaperone, handing over large bills of money for slightly better accommodations would have drawn far too much attention. No, it was far better to suffer the seasickness and cramped living conditions than have George or one of his goons find her. Arabella shivered at the thought of George. She would go anywhere to get away from that horrible man. The way he had compromised her, forced himself on her, ripping her innocence away from her. He had ruined any chance of a happy life that she may have had with another man. And now she was forced to run and hide, like a fugitive, and it hadn’t even been her fault. Why God? Why did you let him do this to me? She mentally screamed, squeezing her eyes shut as tightly as she could to stop the tears from streaming down her cheeks. No answer. I don’t even know why I am bothering to ask you God. You never answer me. You never answered my father when Mother died. Father was right. You never help when I need you. You weren’t there when George attacked me, and you’re not here now. I give up. Her father had always told her that she was the only person that she could ever count on. No-one else would ever be up to the job. She needed to rely on her strength alone. But was her own strength going to be enough to carry the tremendous burden weighing on her shoulders?  Sad to say, I have not been doing a lot of writing recently. I have, however, been kept rather busy editing with one new client and one potential client. So all is good on the editing front. It is also school holidays here in Queensland (well, for my kidlets it is anyway) and it is a lovely hot summer. So we have been going here a lot -----------------------> And you know what? I think this was exaclty what I needed in order to get back into the writing groove. The reason I have not been doing the regular three sentence thursdays is because I had nothing to share with you. However, I am happy to report that I bashed out another one and a half thousand words last night, and I am back in the writing groove!
So without further ado, here is Three Sentence Thursday: I slowly stand up, still not taking my eyes from Jude’s until I am at my full height. Then in one swift movement I turn around and punch Elias as hard as I can square in the cheek. The connection is an audible crack and it sends Elias reeling backwards. Hopefully we can get to the beach a lot more, because that seems to be where my muse has been residing all this time. As my title states, I have not been doing much writing of late. Sure, I've managed a couple hundred words here and there, but I just have not had the time, or energy for that matter, to sit down and just write. I am hoping this trend is going to end sooner rather than later.
However, do not despair! I have written enough new stuff to provide you with a tantalizing Three Sentence Thursday (as you can tell, I don't even have much time to blog, except for this little segment...I am going to have to rectify this no time situation quickly or I stand the chance of being dubbed 'boring,' and 'predictable,' and I definitely do not want that). I must also apologise for the lack of imagery lately, I haven't been trawling for pictures lately due to my lack of time. I will jump on that and rectify this problem before my next post. I promise! So here it is, my three sentences from my WIP novel Bite Me! “Please Summer, just promise me,” he whispers, pleading with his eyes. Not the puppy dog eyes he used on me earlier, but eyes full of seriousness and concern. “Okay Jude, I promise,” I lie straight to his beautiful face, and I hate myself for it. And with that, I will sign off. I have some time to find, chase and capture. Cheers You see what I did there??? Haha, of course you did.
As per usual, Three Sentence Thursday is late. I could give you the excuses that I got called for work, that I had a late meeting the night before that and that I was absolutely exhausted when I got home again. All that is true, but it is also true that I simply forgot...again. And I know you don't want my excuses, you just want the goods. So here are my three sentences from my WIP novel Bite Me! Enjoy! That same static current that I felt at the swimming hole yesterday when I thought someone had been watching us fills the air making the hair on my arms stand to attention. It is much stronger than yesterday and there is a malodorous odour hanging around in the air. "Can you smell that Jude? It smells like iron, like..." Oh yes I did! CLIFFHANGER!!!!!! Sorry, I just couldn't help myself. Besides, if I gave you any more it would be four sentences instead of three, and we can't just go and destroy the sanctity of Three Sentence Thursday by adding a fourth sentence...sacrilege! Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my sometimes day job. Would you believe it? I actually remembered that today is Thursday. Sure, it may be Thursday night here in Australia, but it is still Thursday. And you all know what that means... yup, that's right, it's... THREE SENTENCE THURSDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So here it is, my three sentences from my WIP novel Bite Me! Tiny points of light dot the ceiling of the cave by the hundred, like constellations of stars on a clear night out in the countryside. They are so close I could touch them. I reach my hand up to gently touch one of the little sparkles, but Jude grabs my wrist before I can touch it. And there you have them. I hope you are all enjoying Three Sentence Thursdays. It is really huge for me to share any of my WIP with anyone, so I hope you all feel really special. If you like what you are seeing, please leave a comment (I need all the encouragement I can get...no, really). And to make you feel extra special I have also posted here one of my favourite songs to write to. It is my failsafe writer's block unblocking song... Jack Johnson's Banana Pancakes. Enjoy! 
As you all know, I live in the Land Downunder and I'm proud of it. Also, this statement above is almost totally true! Two days ago, our loyal doggie, Lula, found a nice big snake in our backyard. Okay, so it was a carpet python, not really venomous in comparison to other species we have here, but a snake none-the-less. The first one for the snake season to be found on our property (which is an acre in total). In saying this, we have lived on our current property for 3.5 years now and this is only the 4th snake we have come across. The first was an ENORMOUS carpet python - but it was dead when we found it (and stinky to high heaven!). The other two were small red-bellied black snakes. These are venomous and could kill a child, and possibly a small adult (nasty!). And now this 2 metre python (which I really hope has moved on of it's own volition).
The very next day I dropped my kids at school and daycare. Miss 7 came home after school and told us that she had spotted a light brown, BIG snake on the steps at school - most likely a King Brown, one of the most deadly snakes on the continent. Needless to say it was dealt with swiftly, though maybe not cleanly, with a shovel to the head. So when we say that there are thousands of animals down here that can kill you, we really mean it! Onto the next topic, which is Three Sentence Thursday, yes I know, I did it again. Sorry. So without further ado, here are my three sentences from my WIP novel Bite Me! “Jude, I haven’t trusted anyone in a very long time, why should I trust you?” My eyes are still closed and my feet won’t budge. For some reason, I want desperately to trust him but I’m just not so sure that I should. Other than that, I have not done very much writing in the last couple of weeks at all, what with school starting back and kid's dentist appointments, and me hitting the gym again to get my bikini bod ready for a Gold Coast Summer (can anyone say sunlover???). And let me tell you, at my current age (which is almost 29 for the third time), it takes a lot more work than it used to to get into shape. The school holidays threw me right off track and I pretty much am having to start all over again. Plus, I have just started editing another short story for one of my favourite clients, Donovan Sotam. This one is so funny, but I'm not going to give any of it away. You'll just have to read it yourself to see what I mean. Now, I am going to go and stare at my WIP and see if I can magically make some more words appear on the blank pages. Wish me luck :) I know, I know. I've only just started doing Three Sentence Thursday, and I already forgot to do the post for it. Go figure. The kids are on school holidays and all my days have merged. I am never sure which day it actually is. All I can be sure about is when it's night and when it's day (you know, the whole dark and light thing, kinda helps).
Plus, I used up all my bandwidth and couldn't get online for a few days. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it. So, I guess you want those three sentences then, seeing as they are already late and all. You don't want to listen to (read?) my rambling on about it. You just want it. Okay. fine then. Here it is, from my WIP novel Bite Me! (which is almost at 30,000 words now. YAY!)... “A girl after my own heart,” he says, his eyes sliding shut and placing one hand on his chest, right over his heart. His amazing lips tip up at the corners into a wide grin of pure satisfaction. “Finally,” he adds in a whisper.  I'm currently writing my first novel.
(Well, the first one that's going to get finished. I had three on the go, all at different stages, when my laptop crashed and I lost EVERYTHING! Yes, I know, I'm an idiot for not backing up. Don't worry, now I'm paranoid and I back-up my work every so many words to a zillion different places. I've learned my lesson.) The working title for which is "Bite Me!" Though, I am thinking of some other titles that might be better. I just didn't want to have to say, when people ask what my WIP is called, "I don't know." It's much easier to give a working title that kind of gives people an idea of what the book could possibly be about than having to explain myself in actual words. I've only shared my writing with a couple of other people, but I have decided, with the help of the lovely Paige Nolley, that I am going to start doing Three Sentence Thursdays. Now, I know that some authors do Six Sentence Sundays, but I've only just gotten brave enough to share any of it at all. Six sentences at a time just seems rather overwhelming to me. Three sentences is far more manageable without having to sit in front of the computer hyperventilating into a brown paper bag every time I click publish. The other thing I just know people are going to say is (especially those on the other side of the world from me), "but it's not Thursday yet." Well, actually, here in Australia it is. So I'll be doing Three Sentence Thursdays in Australian time (just smile and embrace the crazy, okay). So without further ado, here are my first three sentences to kick off Three Sentence Thursday: "Before I can contradict myself (it’s amazing how something like going back to high school can make you doubt yourself) I march up the steps to the admin building and - SMACK – walk straight into the glass doors. I stumble backwards, trying to keep my balance as I ricochet off the thick glass, my ears ringing from the impact. Laughter erupts behind me and my cheeks blaze red hot." Just a side note: I will randomly pick three sentences from my WIP each Thursday. They will not be in any kind of chronological order. And with that, I'm going to sign off. I have a full morning of fun to be had with my daughters and my mum, before I drop them off for a holiday sleepover with their other grandparents. Contrary to popular belief, writers actually do lead lives away from the computer. The exciting thing is, I may even have a whole afternoon to myself to spend writing. So, I believe I have been living under a rock! When did zombies become so cool? I absolutely love this little music video. So super cute. Makes me want to write a book about zombies. Or read one. Any suggestions? | AuthorMy name is Suse, I'm married, have two beautiful daughters and live in Sunny Queensland, Australia. Follow me on TwitterArchivesDecember 2012 CategoriesAll |
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