Overcoming fatigue and frustration...

Hi there,

Thought I would attempt to update. Yes, I am aware that I have never used ‘attempt’ before, but since I have been struggling with writing over the past couple of days and managed to write 1000 words today (YAY!), I thought it would be safe to record in this log.

Deep down I feel I should not be writing in this. If I write too much, I will end up with what I had been suffering from over the past two weeks and a half and believe me, it is not pleasant. I felt frustrated over the last few days. I took a week off. I even went on holiday and turned my emotional fatigue into a physical one by climbing a mountain. But it felt like my remedies have been fruitless as I stared at my screen and could only get out one or two sentences.

It really was pissed off. I got a degree in Writing, meaning that the only proper jobs I will be able to apply for will require a lot of writing. I am writing a novel, that I want published and my friends want published because they love the first few chapters that much. But how could I do any of those things if my brain does not want to function creatively and moans every time a writing job is at hand? I am dependant on the fact that I can write.

As sad as this sounds, I even had to google ‘cure for writer’s block’. The most prominent advice was writing a journal. But alas I could not bring myself to write a journal over the past few days. Even that was a lot of hard work. I just did what everyone told me to do…have a rest! And read a book…yes, it was Birmingham David who told me that.

I read Terry Prachett’s ‘The Last Hero’, which I’m enjoying very much…do give it a read. Already, it is giving me ideas on how to improve my characters, because at the moment even though they have basic personalities such as the feisty, bad-tempered Tom and mild-mannered Peace-maker; I would like them to have activities and interests that not only says a hell of a lot about their characters, but also makes them very real and distinct. Although how I am going to show that, I am not too sure at the moment. But I will leave all of that until redrafting.

At the moment, I am really happy that I managed to write 1000 words. I am going to spend some time reading action scenes, because the most climatic prominent scenes are coming up and I want them to be well-written. I also think reading time will be great for inspiration, even though I have already planned the scenes out, I still think there may be room for improvement.

I won’t be doing any writing tomorrow, for I have just got off the phone with Ashish and we agreed to see Toy Story 3. This will be a good time to chill out and be inspired…