Friday, November 20, 2009

They're not all home runs

There is nobody that takes advantage of a hot streak more than I do.

When I get on a roll with my writing, I hammer away and pound out chapters like my fingers are my very own printing press. My waves of confidence are high, and I ride them as long as I possibly can. Sometimes, those waves can even carry on into what would be a slump, and I plow right through those, too.

But just like any high, there has to be some coming down from it. I have been cruising, writing roughly 20,000 words in the last week, and I actually feel pretty good about it. There are times I can bash out a chapter or two and feel like "Well, all of that's getting cut later." But this wasn't one of those times. I've really felt good about what I had been doing.

Until this afternoon. Ugh. I got around 1,500 words out, and some of it wasn't that bad, but I wasn't really feeling it like I had been. And that sucks, but that's part of the deal.

Not every day is going to be "Oh wow! I just wrote 7,800 words and they're all made of GOLD." I've come to grips with that in working at a newspaper since I was 17. Not every story I write is going to win an award. But the key is to keep the slumps tiny, and the fireworks displays going as long as possible.

The only way (for me anyway) to trudge through that muck is to step away and come back when my muse has his/her guns fully loaded. So I'm giving that muse some time to get organized.

I'll be back at the laptop later tonight. I hope this slump won't know what hit it.

1 comment:

  1. Hate the slump. Hate that stinky, yuck SLUMP! Hope you have a better writing day tomorrow. Chances are you will.

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