Netflix, Azeroth and Other Distractions

Well it has happened and just in time for Nanowrimo. The dreaded Writer’s Block has come to visit me. It seems that lately, if I’m actually trying to write anything new, my mind goes completely blank. I ask myself what’s wrong, but deep down I know the answer. I just have trouble accepting it.

Pic by Blizzard Entertainment

“Writer's Block: Situation when writer cannot write: an inability on the part of a writer to start a new piece of writing or continue an existing one” – Bing Dictionary

I don’t really have writer’s block in the sense that I can’t write because I’ve lost my creativity. I do have writer’s block because I’m blocking my own creativity. I’ve filled my head with distractions. Fantasy Football, Mists of Pandaria (the awesome new World of Warcraft expansion), and the worst of all… Netflix.

The title of this post was going to be Sex, Love and Other Drugs because I finally got around to seeing that movie. I absolutely loved it, but those things fuel my writing, unlike the stuff in the title I went with.

I keep telling myself to cut something out, and I really planned on it. I knew I could make larger blocks of time to actually get those creative juices flowing if I had. I’m not real good at writing on the fly. Just look at my blogs about myself. Most of these are written the same day they are posted without a lot of editing. Write it and post it.

Pic from KristinNador on WanaCommons

I’ve been restructuring Devil Dog for a couple months now, and I’ve totally revamped the ending, now I’m adding onto the beginning. I’m adding new scenes to set the stage better and introduce all the bad guys early on. The original start just threw the reader right into the chaos as it all goes down. I realized through reading Kristen Lamb’s blog and notes and comments from my editor, that it needed an overhaul. I planned on doing the rewrites for the beginning and end of Devil Dog for Nanowrimo. The original beginning would become the inciting incident. Something that was originally a little fuzzy in previous drafts.

Now Nanowrimo has begun, and I’ve been so distracted from writing anything at all, that I am still unprepared. Last year I wrote for Nanowrimo and actually succeeded in reaching that word count goal. I had to really push myself to get through it and the result was an unrecoverable disaster. I tried writing Devil Dog 2, even had an outline to work from. I kept the disaster and someday I’ll work my restructuring magic to rip it apart later and write Devil Dog 2 properly. In the meantime, I’ll get back to Devil Dog.

I’ve extended my goals for the horror short stories I was co-writing. We are adding more content and pushing it to be closer to 200 pages. Some of the new stuff is really gory. It’s been a lot of fun working on that project. In case any of you were here looking for that.

Pic by Lynn Kelley on WanaCommons

I really haven’t got to my point have I? Okay, here it is. I stopped writing consistent weekly posts because I felt it took up all my writing time. I realize now that it was a huge mistake. My posts on weapons and warriors were apparently fueling my drive. I have plenty of time to write now that I’m not posting about weapons and warriors, but I’m filling that time with other stuff. So in short, you’ll be happy to know that Weapons Weekly will be making a comeback soon. I can’t promise weekly and I’ll probably change the name to Weapons and Warriors (W&W) because of that. I’ve realized that I am too easily distracted if I don’t have something grounding me down, and W&W was doing just that until I quit.

I’m going to pick up on where I left off with the fantasy weapons first, but I’ll dive back into the other ancient weapons eventually. Just knowing I’m going to start this again already makes me feel like a writer again. Thanks for hanging in there readers, and I’m glad you didn’t give up on me.

See you soon when I do a Lord of the Rings weapon that everyone knows from the movies, but not so many know about its true nature and origin.

I was watching this video recently and it sort of spoke to me about my recent attitude and the path I was tumbling down. I don't want to end up like the old man, so back to work! The song is beautiful and very unlike the usual Nightwish goth metal sound. This one is quite Celtic and calm. I just wanted to share it with you guys. Enjoy!