It’s a Hard Knock Life

As you may recall, I promised to do better writing-wise last week. Well, I kind of broke that promise.

I was full of optimism, thinking I’d jot a little something for both prompts, and I started with the prompt about the lonely wizard. Only I started getting bogged down in riddles (because he had to solve three of them) and then I realized this was not going to be a short story – there was too much going on. I may, or may not, write this story some time when I have more time, but I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.

So I turned to the second prompt – dinosaur versus the monster under the bed – and I just wasn’t feeling it.

Sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug. I was definitely the bug last week. And, to be honest, I’ve been the bug on the windshield for a while now. I’m in a bona fide writing slump.

So I spent a bunch of time reading blogs of other authors, and was happy to see I’m not alone in my slump. Call it a sign of the times, but there are a lot of unmotivated writers out there. Some of them even big name authors. Kind of makes me feel a little better.

But I need to shake it off. I’ve got too much writing to do; I’ve no time to hunker down in the bottom of the abyss. Winter is coming, and if things are bad now they’re nothing compared to what they’ll be later on.

Time to set up a routine, and if that doesn’t work I need to find another one, and another, until I find something that does work. Writing needs to be distilled into a habit – and I’ve gotten out of the habit over the last couple of years.

So for the rest of the week I’m going to be trying out various times/places for writing and see which one feels right. I think the fact that I’m so determined is a point in my favour (although the fact that this post is so late takes that point right away again).

At any rate, I’ve been doing some research online to help me get started/motivated into my new routine, and I’ve found these articles particularly helpful:

Developing the Writing Habit
How to Create the Habit of Writing
Form a Daily Writing Habit
Writing Routine

You aren't the only ones curious to see how this will turn out.

Prompts of the Week

I think I need to find some new prompt generators because it took awhile to come up with something that was workable. This one came from good ole Springhole, and once again I chose Creepypasta & Horror Creep Generator.

It looks like a police officer with an emaciated body and a misshapen torso. It has been observed in the forest. It's said that it can pass through solid objects.

With Halloween just around the corner this should be a snap, right? Why don't you give it a try too?