The laundry is done. Check.
The dog has been walked. Multiple times. Check.
I baked cookies. Check.
Hmm...it's probably too early to decorate for Christmas...
Blog written ahead of schedule. Check.
WIP (work in progress) file remains unopened. Bad. Very bad.
Based on the above, I fear I'm in a major slump! When I'd rather clean than write, something is seriously wrong. It's September--prime writing time at the boat ramp after the crowds have departed Tahoe. Yet I battle to force out 500 words during my 8 hour shift. This. Is. Not. Normal.
I don't slump. I write. I need a serious kick in the butt to get me back on track.
Let's examine possible causes.
NO CONTRACT/DEADLINE. I've had a deadline for the last 10 books I've written. It motivates me to know I'd better have my book finished by (insert date) or else! I was always afraid to find out what would happen if I didn't get it done. Also, when I say I'm going to do something, I do it.
NO MOTIVATION. Is there something wrong with this book? I thought the plot was original, but I'm struggling with it. I like my characters, but my heroine lost her memory. She doesn't know herself. As a result, I don't seem to know her or how she'll react to things. My hero is a giver. He's a nice guy. It's never about him. He always brings any conversation back around to the other person. So I'm fighting to get to know him. I gave him a red corvette to spice up his personality, but the damn car isn't working for me. It just isn't him. I could use a few suggestions.
This is where you come in. When you're in a slump (writing or otherwise), how do you get out of it? What can I do to "fix" the causes listed above? Just for fun, I'm including the blurb for this troublesome book below. Maybe you'll have some brilliant ideas to break me out of my slump and get me writing again! Oh, and don't forget those car suggestions. Sometimes it's the little things that get us moving.
LETHAL MEMORY
Riley Adair, a
biology professor at a small college outside Boston, spends all her free time
in her lab, working tirelessly toward a cure for dementia. When she makes an
astonishing genetic breakthrough in memory loss prevention, word of her potentially
groundbreaking discovery leaks out, and the consequences turn deadly. More than
one party is determined to lay claim to her work . . . or destroy it for good.
After Riley deletes all her digital records, the key to her research is locked inside
her mind. Until the kidnappers who capture and torture her make a critical
error, leaving Riley with no memory at all.
When one of
Riley’s graduate students contacts Counterstrike in a panic to save her, the
team swings into action. While her rescue goes smoothly, Riley is left helpless
in an unfamiliar world, defenseless in the face of powerful enemies who still
want the information trapped inside her brain. A second kidnapping attempt
makes it clear they will stop at nothing to get those secrets.
Unwilling to leave
Riley alone to recover from her injuries while still exposed to danger, Noah
Kimball, Counterstrike’s medic and a man fighting his own personal demons, secures
her in a hidden location. Noah’s need to help her heal physically and emotionally
becomes something much more personal as their attraction for each other
develops. But the peril is far from over when unknown enemies close in on them.
In a race against time, Riley fights to recover her memory, while Noah fears he
won’t be able to save the woman he has grown to love—and know—better than she
knows herself.
While I struggle to find my groove, check out my previous books. Info and buy links are on my WEBSITE. Happy reading!
22 comments:
Well, I'm hooked! Great blurb, Jannine, and premise. Love the names. As far as tips/advice for breaking writing slumps....hahahahahahaha. Sorry. I'm the last person who can offer anything useful. I did have a thought about Noah's car. I'd give him a classic, maybe a classic Mustang that he babies. Or a Thunderbird like from American Graffiti with Harrison Ford. That's REALLY classic. I hope you can whip your slump into submission soon, though. I want to read that story!
You made me laugh with your haha-ing, Leah. It's a classic Corvette. It just doesn't feel right. I HOPE I can beat my slump into submission. I'm working on it. And I'm really glad you like the premise for this book!
Well, for starters, what Leah said. (As usual ;-) I was thinking some kind of a classic car for Noah, too. Mustang would be my favorite. (The first car I ever owned after we were married.) His pride and joy. The only thing he allows himself of the material world. (And there's a reason for this in his past.) Of course, Noah's a giver, he's a doctor, a true physician. He needs more of a past though. Something gone wrong - maybe when he was a resident - that ties into what he's doing for Riley in present day, so he hesitates when he should maybe be going forward. And maybe Riley suffers as a result. At least at first. (Can you say hero growth arc?) As for Riley, she'll react to things in present day the way she used to react before the memory loss. When you're writing the post memory loss scenes, in your mind, anyway, think of her strengths in the before mind loss mode. Some of those reactions will be revelations for her, too. Bonus! Well, imagine that, moi giving you the old kick in the butt. Usually, it's the other way around. Enjoy!
Chris the cop in the Siren Cove series had a Mustang. I need a different car. Good points, Margo. Noah has a history. He was in Doctors Without Borders, and someone he cared about was killed. I just can't seem to get him to open up about it!!! He's very stoic, and it's killing my pace!
Deadlines get me moving. Sometimes if I don't have one I 'make one' for myself. The trick is convincing myself that it's real ;)
Well, you've got me questioning your premises, so that's a good thing. My musings are: Unless Riley is looking for a patent on a chemical, I'm not sure why she'd be keeping information to herself...the work on alzheimer's has been collegial I understand, since it is so important to humankind...I read about lots of sharing. If her method will save the world, she'd surely store the remedy in more places than her brain. Torture for an alzheimer's drug seems far-fetched to me as well as the memory loss-makes the villains dodos.
Maybe think more about who the villains are since they have created this mell of a hess :-) Good luck. My sense is the slump is because you're not passionate about the story, yet...you'll get there!
I don't like to think of these times as slumps. I prefer to think that my story is simmering on the back burner, coming to a boil in my subconscious. For me, usually it's because there is something off with the plot or the character, something my subconscious mind recognizes, but my conscious mind doesn't. It's not ringing true. At those times, I will research, or like you, clean house and do laundry and see what pops up. My note pad in my phone is handy for that AHA moment. With respect to the car. I'm no car expert. However, what about an unexpected car for this character, something that is dear to him for whatever reason, but that people keep saying WTH? Perhaps a PINK CADILLAC because he loves Aretha Franklin, a VW BUG because he knows they float, a PORSHE that gets wiped out in floods ("Who's the U-Boat Captain?" Risky Business). Good luck! Looks like a great read to me--whenever you get it done. :)
I always give myself deadlines, Maureen. But this time it isn't working. Maybe I need to set shorter term goals or something.
Rolynn, this premise has been a challenge. My pre-med kid had a few things to say about the medical side of it. I try to keep that part vague since Riley can't remember what she was doing. The thugs who tried to get her to talk were idiots. The person who hired them was not happy. My thoughts about motive are also vague. She's doing some testing on her grandpa without approval--and it was working. She didn't want her research to fall into the wrong hands when she was kidnapped. There are two groups of bad guys, one who wants her work, and one trying to destroy it. It's kind of a cluster you know what, and I need to work it all out!
Your blurb is fantastically enticing. Yeah, ditch the corvette. I see old men hanging on to youth in corvettes. Maybe something weird like an ancient Studebaker? As far as not knowing the heroine because she doesn't know herself...hmm...that you do need to remedy. Have you tried doing a character sketch of her before the memory loss. Even if she loses her memory, I bet she'd stay true to her personality in some ways. Maybe there are a few things she does and she doesn't know why. You say he's a nice guy. Maybe his demons come from something in his past that weren't nice. A totally nice person isn't very interesting. Maybe you need to give him a few traits that aren't so squeaky clean.
Sharon, you got me thinking about the car. Maybe it isn't the car per se, but the fact that it belonged to someone he cared about (his dad or a brother). It could be a piece of crap that he has to nurse along, but he does it out of sentimentality. Or maybe it's just old and has a million miles on it, but he can't bear to part with it. Hmmm, this might work. It might get him to talk more about his past, too! Bonus!
Brenda, good idea. Noah is TOO nice. I need to give him a wart or two. I didn't mean for him to be so nice. He's just coming across that way. I probably do need to make that character sketch for my heroine. Probably for both of them. Usually I have it in my head, but not this time. And since I'm not writing much, anyway, it won't take away from my word count!
How about you NOT have someone have been killed in Noah's past? That was what you used in the first book in this series. And, sort of, in the next one. Can we say cliche? It needs to be something else. Someone he really, really trusted betrayed him. Someone he held in high esteem and he's, maybe, afraid he has the same 'dark side' in him. Something HE did, or thinks he did, impacted someone or someones in a very bad way. I like the pink Cadillac idea, too. He needs to have it for sentimental reasons. NOT prestige. Give him a quirk. Obsessive/compulsive? Deathly afraid of something that's everyday to most people. Something that Riley somehow champions. Keep in mind, as we've said, her personality isn't going to change even though she has amnesia.
No pink Cadillac. Sorry, but no. I'll give him some quirks. I just did a character sketch for Riley. Learned a few new things about her. Now it's Noah's turn.
As you know, I had a terrible slump last year--read paralysis. I only pulled out of it by taking baby steps at first, and even then the final book needed major revisions. You've set yourself a real challenge with this one. I think the character sketches will help. I always do them before I start and refer to them regularly. They help keep me in touch with the creative inspiration I had when I first imagined them. As for Noah, I really don't feel like a flashy car of any kind, classic or not, is his thing. You're on the right track with one that means something to him for another reason. Good luck!
Recently, one of us asked for the same kind of help--being in a slump and not knowing where the story was going. I (sort of) quoted Donald Maas' suggestion--what's the worse that can happen to the MC? What's worse than that? What would the MC never do? Make him/her do it. Why? When I read that suggestion, I took a long look at my own WIP. That got me thinking and understanding my characters better. I did this for both of them. As far as a car goes, what about a vintage Jaguar? The older ones were prone to many mechanical problems, according to my brother, the mechanic. I hope all the advice you're getting here helps.
Alison, I'm working on a character sketch for Noah right now. I'm learning what makes him tick and causes his insecurities. Still have a ways to go. I think he might drive his brother's old pickup, even though it's pretty rough, for sentimental reasons. His brother was the hero he feels he can never live up to, no matter how many people he saves. Maybe by the end of the book, he'll be able to let it go and get something just for him. I kind of like that idea.
Those are some interesting questions, Diane. I like the "What would he never do?" one. It's good to force characters out of their comfort zone.
His brother served in the military. Noah wanted to, but for some reason couldn't. Big military family. It always bothered him. Please, please, please don't have the brother have been killed in action. I'm beggin' ya. MIA. I might allow that. LOL
Sometimes working on something different helps clear my mind to see the way forward. If I've been writing too many thrillers with high body counts, I'll pull out a partially finished contemp romance and play with it for a few days. It's lighter, not as complicated, let's my mind play more than work. Hope you find what works for you soon.
Not military. 9/11. These people lack family connections, which is why they were chosen for Counterstrike. I'd forgotten that part. There's a REASON they all have tragic pasts!
Excellent idea, Diane. I think I'll take a break and work on my Christmas story. Maybe come back with a fresh outlook!
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