Well, after two and a half years of dodging it, despite family members working daily with the public, COVID-19 has caught up with me. With a vengeance. I say that not because I’m terribly ill, but because three out of four of our household members have all come down with it at once. The only…
Category: Blocks and Frustrations
When Characters Get Even
In our efforts to make the puzzles hard for our protagonists to solve, we set up a puzzle for ourselves that is missing pieces. Our characters have taken us on side paths that we weren’t expecting. This is great because it means we have written characters with true personalities–characters who are real and believable.
It also means that our characters have managed to do to us what we were trying to do to them.
Derailed
My little supposed 30,000-word mid-grade novel had reached 68,772 words a few days before Christmas. Then the frantic onset of wrapping, baking, decorating, and celebrating shoved the “I can’t stop writing” choo-choo right off the rails. I will pick it up again, hopefully with new inspiration. The story has a long way to go for…
The Lost Story
Many years ago (before there was an Internet), I began a book. Life happened, as it so often does, and I never got past the first three chapters. The book was begun in good old Word Perfect for DOS (if you’re old enough to remember DOS, congratulations; you’re a survivor), and at some point converted…
Writer’s Flood
My big problem isn’t writer’s block. It’s writer’s flood. I have so many story ideas floating about that sometimes I feel like I’m drowning. I’m not a great one at making decisions (my astrologer friends would say that’s because I have Libra rising), but I am pretty good at coming up with interesting story ideas.
The two character attributes don’t always play well together.
Lost in the Woods?
I earned my 10,000 word badge today. Even thought I’ve been somewhat sidelined by doctor’s appointments, power outages, and Election Day, I’m still on track with NaNoWriMo. It’s been six whole days. Only 24 to go. Will I make it?
Yes. You know? I think I will. However, I’m not quite sure if those 50,000 words are going to bring me to the place I thought I would be going.
Gayle Nastasi 