Literary Sulk

Hi, Lou! :-) Naming no names, but I have just had someone to whom I sent some stories say... I can see what you're trying to do, but sorry to say it but I think you've got a little while to go before you're at Bruce Robinson or Beckett stage. ... which is probably true, but he could've worn a softer glove! Not quite the same, but does it entitle me to honorary membership of your "I Feel Crap About My Writing Today" club? :-/ (PS. who's Bruce Robinson?) pe ps oid ... What is "The Art of Tea"? ... (www.pepsoid.wordpress.com)

I like to try something completely different when I get stuck. For instance, Lou, I was wondering if you're still accepting submissions for FabMo?

Very much with you, Lou. I was on a roll for months with a certain project... and then it hit the skids, and I've been feeling wretched and superfluous to the world for months! There are three ways around it that usually work for me. Firstly, don't worry if it's crap. It's first draft. No one else is going to read it. Get it writ - THEN get it right. Secondly, put it away, forget it and do something else. The unconscious has funny ways of feeding you the right information if you give it time. Thirdly... well, that's in a topic I've just posted in this forum: Fiction writing v Script writing. It may not work for you... but oddly, it usually seems to work for me. PS Have you read Anne Lamott's 'Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life'? If not, do get a copy. Not a 'How To' guide so much as an inspiration. It keeps me going in my lowest points. Check it out on Amazon. I won't post the link 'cos it's too long. As one critic said: "This book is a very true portrait of what your inner life is like if you are a writer, how the writer's mind really works and what it is really like to try and live this way."

Approach to my work for the last few months: 1) Open the file and scroll through. Change a few words here and there. Close file. 2) Open new file and write list of where I've gone wrong, what I need to do to fix it, how I can accomplish that. 3) Have a coffee, then check ABC. 4) Turn off computer to limit distractions. Sit in armchair with pad and write down a few notes. Read a chapter of whichever book is currently on the go. 5) Satisfied with morning's work, decide on early lunch. 6) Go out and get shopping. 7) Have a nap. 8) Switch on computer, check ABC again, scroll through file again, change a few words here and there. 9) Pop to library, grab books in similar vein to one I'm trying to write, see how THEY did it. Make notes. 10) Dinner. 11) As a treat for a good day's work, get a DVD out and watch it. 12) Open file for last time and scroll through. 13) Check ABC again. 14) Go to bed. 15) Wake up early next morning and dread getting up to go through another day of the same. Sound familiar? I guarantee the Anne Lamott book will quickly become your best friend and comfort blanket, Lou. The chapter entitled 'Shitty First Drafts' is especially encouraging. Tony's now going to tell me off for not bringing this up on Booktribes!

How peculiarly like my own day(s) that sounds... And, when its going a bit shite, or when it feels like that, i remember all the other times it felt like that, and go and do something else. (write, read, walk the dog). Leave it leave it leave it. You can't come back to it 'til you've gone away.

Ah... I've dumped all the games off my computer for that reason. There's still internet gaming, of course! Do you touch type, Lou? I found learning that to be a good filler-in - and you are writing, at least! I bought one of the Softkey programs for ten quid at Currys or somewhere. Took me about 2 months to work through all the lessons. It wasn't as hard as I thought. I can now hit 60 w.p.m. If only my imagination worked at that rate!

Good job there're the forums to keep us going, eh?