Another quick post to proclaim to the world (and probably mostly to myself) that I'm still writing! Granted, I don't think Nora Roberts has anything to worry about, but I am still persevering in spite of myself. My characters are at present mostly just moving around mumbling lines to each other. But, at least they're moving and with them my story is progressing inch by inch forward. I've decided not to update my progress meter until next week as a kind of incentive to write more than I have been. We'll see what happens.

If You Write It They Will Come

Believe it or not, I actually wrote a bit this weekend. Okay, so maybe it was heavy on "a bit" but still writing. When I finished, I looked at my word count just to see if all those extra "actually, really, just, etc" type words I actually really just use way too much helped up my word count and found to my shock I had an overall count of 23,000 odd words. Now unless my multiplying like bunnies theory somehow came true (see previous post), something was seriously off. If you glance to the right, you can clearly see my progress meter is firmly entrenched at 3,905. Maybe my muse had come back while I was playing Dynomite on Yahoo and decide to finish up a few chapters for me? Unfortunately, nothing so dramatic. When I recently started writing again, I pulled out a previous book I had been working on before starting the new Paranormal Romance. This one too is a paranormal but without the romance. I've ingeniously titled it Ghost Story and it's been nagging at my brain for some time now. And the fact that I had completely forgotten about the Paranormal Romance I'd been blathering about for quite a while tells me maybe I was right to return to the previous book. Either that or I have schizophrenia. Actually just really, I'm okay with both.

Well, it took me three days but I managed to write a total of 664 words. This is quite a feat for me seeing as how the only writing I've been doing lately has been confined to my checkbook (damn bills). But I have learned something even through this minuscule amount of writing. A little is better than none and it just might be enough to get the creative blood pumping again. Maybe all I'll be able to manage for a while is a paragraph a day or even every two days, but at least I'm writing and that's what's important. Just glancing over and seeing my progress meter balancing so tantalizing on the edge of 4,000 total words fills me with joy because at least it's finally moving after months of inactivity. My muse may not have come back but that doesn't mean I have to wait around for her twiddling my thumbs (I tried twiddling my thumbs once and it really wasn't all that much fun).

Number of the Day

Just a short post to say that as of 1:45 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time, Check Local Listings), I have actually written 237 words! Oh, sure maybe that only totals up to a few short paragraphs, tiny actually seeing as how most of it is dialogue, but it still counts. And why you might ask am I here posting when I clearly should still be writing? Oh...uh...good point. Back to work!

Word of the Day

Persistent: Persisting, especially in spite of opposition, obstacles, discouragement; lasting or enduring tenaciously (courtesy of Dictionary.com).

Another Aspiring Author: She who is not persisting, especially in spite of opposition, obstacles, discouragement; lasting or enduring tenaciously.

I don't know what's wrong with me. I cannot seem to get myself together enough to write. And it's not about just being published for me (though that would be soooo nice). At this point, I'd just be happy to write again. I miss it. I miss the flluttery butterflies I get in my stomach when I sit down at my computer excited to find where my story will take me. I miss thinking about my characters and imagining things they might say as I go throughout my normal daily life. I miss the words falling from my fingertips and somehow arranging themselves on the page in ways I didn't know they would. And what's so sad about the whole thing is it's my own damn fault. I'm no busier than anyone else. It's about priorities and where I choose to place writing on my to do list. Perhaps I should be concentrating more on the what the word "commitment" means before "lazy author" becomes permanently affixed by my name in the dictionary.

The No Update Update

Well, here it is the first week of February, almost an entire month since I last posted. And what exciting and productive news do I have to report? If you guessed a big fat zero, you get a cookie. Go ahead, shove the whole thing in your mouth if you want....no one's looking. Actually, I haven't been completely useless the past few weeks. I did manage somehow to work up enough energy to write a whole sentence. Yep, you heard me, a complete sentence with nouns and verbs and other grammar type words. I guess I was hoping maybe they would mutiple like bunnies when I wasn't looking but alas this was not to be.

Still no postcard from my errant Muse. She's probably lying on a beach somewhere being served margaritas and chocolate by a cabana boy named Raoul. Tramp. Of course, if that were true, I don't suppose I'd be in a hurry to come home either.