Monday, June 18, 2007

Getting Unstuck

I did a little sewing over the weekend. It wasn't the blissful escape I had been craving. Maybe that's because what I made didn't turn out all that well; maybe it's because sewing, even when it works out well, doesn't really help you to finish a book. I keep discovering that. Fortunately for me, two Intuitive Writing students helped me get unstuck and move on. They didn't know that's what they were doing, but they were very effective anyway. First, in our weekly phone call, Tammy reported something she's found out recently, which is that having an appointment to write with a friend in a cafe can boost her productivity. A cafe? Hey! I thought, maybe getting out of the house would help me. Then Beth emailed to say that her characters were doing and saying so much so quickly that she could barely type fast enough. She sounded happy and excited. Hey! I wanted to be happy and excited about writing too!

So I got my Crock-Pot dinner all prepped last night. (Can you believe the pre-planning here? I must have been desperate.) This morning, I walked the dog and made breakfast. I drove my daughter to her new job, but I didn't drive home. I went to a coffee place, pulled out my laptop, and restarted my novel revisions. I didn't go home until I'd finished a predetermined number of pages. Beth and I talked today about being stuck. We agreed that everybody gets stuck sometimes, and it's miserable. The trick is to have systems in place to get unstuck as quickly as possible.

I feel better! Thanks, you guys!

3 comments:

Julie Kibler said...

I posted a comment on here last night about getting unstuck, but it seems to have disappeared! Oh, well.

I think it was something about being in the lovely middle of my WIP, which is an easy place to get stuck! And then something about how when I'm stuck, I often have to sit down and "just write," and that sometimes the "just writing" turns into some really interesting things. :-)

Something like that.

Sara Lewis Murre said...

You're right. I teach this. I should know, shouldn't I? But I forget! Sorry your post disappeared!

therese may said...

Hi, Sara,

I love reading your writing! My daughter, Bridget was here today and I showed her the picture of her on my blog and the comment that you made about the quilt she made last year. Then I gave her my copy of your book, "The Answer is Yes". She wanted to read it and find out who it was who liked her quilt. :-))