Tag: writers block

Chasing the Muse

~ Jonna Hawker Turek ~ Leave a comment

Every writer is inspired by different things. The ancient Greeks ascribed various muses to the arts;  Thalia was for comedy and pastoral poetry, Terpsichore was dance, and Erato was for love poetry. Lately, my personal muse seems to be Melpomene, the muse of tragedy, because, tragically, I can’t seem to write, at all.

I am in the midst of unpacking after a household move and, although things are beginning to take shape, I’m one of those unfortunate souls who requires balance and order in my work space before the ideas begin to flow. I’m getting closer to having my writing nook set up to my liking, but as I work, I feel the urgent nudging of the characters in my work-in-progress telling me to stop neglecting them and get the show on the road. Judy Falls is eager to know all about the body she discovered in the ruined chapel in the woods and the rest of the Bannoch First Ladies are anxious to know more about the wife of the new pastor at First Baptist. It’s a lot of pressure added to the stress of a move, believe me, but enough whining.

Next week is the second Saturday of the month and we are in for a treat as we visit with that brilliant and clever writer, Julie Seedorf. It should be a fun time as her irrepressible character from Fuchsia, Granny, has promised to join us.  I’m not sure who the Greek muse of hilarious cozy mysteries is, but Julie must be very familiar with her.

I’m hoping some of her inspiration rubs off on me! See you next week.

 

Reader Feedback is Priceless

~ Jonna Hawker Turek ~ Leave a comment

I am about a third of the way through my current work in progress, The First Ladies’ Club.

At this stage of a novel, I sometimes hit a dry patch where I wonder how to proceed, or if I should even bother writing another word.

I felt myself slipping down into just such a slump this week, but then one of my local readers dropped by my office to let me know she’d just finished “…and Something Blue,” and was eager for my next book.

I thanked her for the kind words and assured her I was hard at work on the next. It was a simple exchange, but her words sparked the fires of my imagination and rekindled my enthusiasm for my work in progress.

Whether you are a writer or a reader, never underestimate the power of reader feedback.

To encourage feedback, writers need to be accessible to their readers.

I make my Facebook page [https://www.facebook.com/jbhawker2012] open to public comment, my author email address [j.b.hawker2012@gmail.com] is posted on my site and my Amazon author page [http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B009I3H95Y] is part of my email signature. This blog links to my author page and posts on my Twitter account [@HawkerJB].

I’m trying to make it easy for my readers to contact me.

Of course, I frequently check out the reviews of my books for sale on Amazon. The reader who takes the time to post a review deserves to have those comments considered, be they encouragement or helpful criticism.

As a reader too, now I understand how important it is to the author, I try to offer encouraging reviews of the books I read.  My words just may be helping a fellow author out of a slump.

Words are powerful; words of encouragement are priceless.

 

Writer’s Block? What Writers Block?

~ Jonna Hawker Turek ~ Leave a comment

We all hear a lot about the struggles writers can have coming up with the next plot turn, but I struggle with the opposite problem, something I call writer’s rush.

Once the plot has been outlined, the main characters roughed in and I begin writing the first chapter of the narrative, I must constantly rein myself in so as not to hurry to the climax or give away plot points too early.

I’m near the end of the first chapter of my current work and already feeling the familiar tug to speed to the ending.

The technique I’ve been using to prevent my books from becoming short stories or novellas is to decide ahead of time what I want to accomplish in each segment. I bracket that goal on the page before I begin, and then paragraph by paragraph reread what I’ve written, comparing it to what’s in the brackets. When I’ve covered some point, I delete it from the brackets and when the brackets are empty I am ready to move on to the next chapter. In this way, my first rough draft moves at approximately the pace I want.

Of course, goals change and those draft chapters will be revised many times before I am ready to send the work for editing, but the basic structure remains.

If you deal with a similar issue, I’d love to hear how you handle it.