• About the Author
  • GoodReads
  • Stone Goose and Stone Gander
    • Happy New Year from Stone Goose
  • Wisdom Courtyard
    • About Wisdom Courtyard

Writer in the Garret

~ A writer living one word at a time

Writer in the Garret

Category Archives: Avoiding writing

I’m having a hell of a time…

19 Monday Aug 2013

Posted by Yvonne Montgomery in Avoiding writing, e-books, Finny Aletter, Writing tips

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

We won't call it writer's block

17997208-brain-intelligence-discovery-with-a-human-brain-shape-made-of-stars-and-planets-in-a-space-beckgroun…getting back into my WIP. I’ve been in merchandizing mode all summer with my two Finny Aletter mysteries, Scavenger Hunt and Obstacle Course, and my brain is skipping across a meadow of clever ploys to interest an indifferent Web. How many times can I artfully mention the titles before I’m shunned by all and sundry? Sigh.

However, my A Signal Shown manuscript is sitting beside me and it needs to be finished. How lovely it would be to see how the story ends so I can stop wondering about it.  And afterward I’d have a shiny new opportunity to write the third Wisdom Court novel, a prospect filling me with both excitement and raw terror. I’ve not had enough energy for such visceral emotions during this summer of the slug.

How, oh, how can I gracefully–or even awkwardly–transition from sales whore to dedicated creator of immortal fiction? Well…here’s my plan. Ostensibly, I’m merely nattering to my hardy band of followers, but if I keep moving my fingers over the keys, magic will happen. That tiny ember of creativity lodged somewhere in my brain stem will burst forth–or even fifth–to release the words hovering near the ember.  It’s getting crowded in there, so the phrases will come tumbling through the synapses, down my spine, stampeding into both arms, thundering out through my always-moving fingers.

Any minute now.

Dammit.

I’m going to have to actually work on this thing, aren’t I? I’ll need to stop fiddle-farting around and reread the manuscript. I’ll find the inevitable typos and will enter corrections, and that will lead to thinking of better ways to say what’s on the page.  Then, God help me, I’ll get that nasty urge to cut a paragraph or two, just to prove I can kill my darlings. I hate that part. But I’ll do it, and that pathetic pile of what used to be my writer’s ego will show signs of revival. There’s nothing like the blood of dead descriptions and defunct characters to get that bastard pulsing again.

So now I’m off to find an illustration of the brain so all of you can see where the process begins, because I wouldn’t want there to be any confusion about it. That won’t take long, just a bit of trolling on the Web, and then I’ll start reading…wait, I’ll have to find my red pen. It’s around here somewhere; I saw it this morning.  Okay, got it.

I’ll be back at it before you can blink an eye.

See?

Share this:

  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

You turn around twice and…

07 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by Yvonne Montgomery in Avoiding writing, Life, Random Thoughts, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

dachshunds, napping, summertime

…almost a month has passed!  This is not how one takes over the world through blogging.  But it’s summer, and time has taken on the illusory consistency of syrup, flowing slowly, allowing moments for nurturing flowers (along with the weeding!).  And visits from relatives (along with catching up on chores so no one finds out how slovenly my life is!).  Ambition stumbles over notions of lying in a lawn chair.  The brain begins to hum golden oldies and eyelids lock at half-mast.  Even reading slows as really pondering the written word requires unlocking those lids to escape from the sun’s rays.

Huh?  Where was I?  Oh, yeah, so I’m still totally going to take over the world through blogging, but we had some bodacious thunder storms last night and the sky’s getting cloudy.  Maybe I ought to turn off the computer in case of lightning and find a comfy, safe spot with the dachshunds until we know for sure about possible weather events.  We could think about the importance of such things, and maybe catch a few zzzzzs.

Yeah, that sounds good.

Share this:

  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Circumvention, like circumcision, means shortcuts–ewww!

23 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by Yvonne Montgomery in Avoiding writing, Random Thoughts, Uncategorized, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

angst, imagination, writing process

Never look a gift analogy in the mouth. (Seriously. Too gross.)

After the last post, so filled with angst and obscure Word issues, I hit “Return” a few times, typed in “Chapter Twenty-Five,” and kept going. There’s more than one way to skin a Header command. (Geez, that sounds even worse than the post title.)

The new Last Chapter continues wending through the moors of invention, and, after consulting the runes, I’m back to scaring myself because the only way I can wrap up the book is to pull ghosties and ghoulies out of the closet–as in storage, not sexuality. Today, whilst receiving a wonderful massage–thanks again, Karen–and gently pushing out of my mind the guilt from not posting here often enough, I realized I’ve passed up many possible blog posts about my writing process.  I’ve been hiding it in the closet, too, along with discarded characters, weak descriptions, and failed plot elements.  It’s so dark in there, I have a hell of a time even finding the damned process.

I’ve thought it better to occasionally sound as though I know what I’m doing than to let people see the disorganization and interruptions, the endless flailing for a decent sentence, the bizarre rituals to crank up what passes for my imagination.  Writing has always been for me a hodgepodge of hard work, wishful thinking, and some small talent. Regardless of what happens in the book business itself, the effort to put words on the page remains the same. Every time I get in a tizzy about self-publishing vs. pursuing agents, or how I need to format my two mysteries into e-book mode, my word-count slows and I feel bad.

The blog is a quick way to short-circuit angst and redouble my efforts to bring Wisdom Court to life. Every writer I know ultimately gives as advice the old, true saw: Plant your ass on the chair and your hands on the keyboard.  Write. We can’t sell what we haven’t finished.

Share this:

  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Of bulbs and shoots, of sparrows and jays

12 Monday Mar 2012

Posted by Yvonne Montgomery in Avoiding writing

≈ Leave a comment

Writing a blog–like dieting and other self-improvement projects–begins with good intentions but falters now and again as life staggers onward.  My current update is that I continue to work on the beloved last chapter. I’ve made progress, but, to quote Louisa May Alcott, all is not yet in “apple pie order.” Let’s just say I can smell the cinnamon.

Whilst I’ve been working the world has turned to almost-spring. Tiny shoots are reaching skyward, and soon I will be able to wonder what the hell I planted hither and yon across the yard. My granddaughter’s school sold bulbs as a fundraiser last fall, and I was generous. I’d not heard of some of the flowers, so it’s unlikely that I’ll remember their names as they appear. I’m just pleased that the squirrels didn’t eat them all.

This morning our camera-shy bluejay swooped in for seed, then drank from the birdbath with great gusto. Some say jays are obnoxious birds, but I enjoy their various calls. And they’re so colorful, especially now, before the trees leaf out and the flowers bloom. The bird feeder we installed last spring has given us much entertainment. We mostly have sparrows dining at “Just Bring Your Beak,” but chickadees and the occasional robin stop for a bite as well. I’ve yearned over the years for hummingbirds to visit, but despite honeysuckle vines growing in front of the porch, they never have. Hummingbird moths used to arrive every summer, but I haven’t seen them for several years.

Now I must turn away from Sweet spring, full of sweet days and roses,/A box where sweets compacted lie. [George Herbert] and get back to work. 

May your springtime renew your spirits.

Share this:

  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

I’m scaring myself

24 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by Yvonne Montgomery in Avoiding writing, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Avoiding writing

More wrestling with the beloved, blasted last chapter.  I’ve danced around it so long because I want it to be wonderful and frightening. Not sure about the wonderful (secretly hoping, of course) but I keep scaring myself. Can’t explain why since that requires revealing everything that comes before–just to get the full impact of the spooky stuff, don’t you know.  I’m scared enough that I’m writing this instead of that.  <Shiver> And equally frightened that what creeps me out won’t evoke the same reaction in hardened readers.  <Big shiver>  And, as I proceed I see a faint possibility that there might be another chapter looming at the end of this (I swear to God) last chapter.

<Biggest shiver>

Share this:

  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Authors

  • Yvonne Montgomery

Support Colorado Wildlife

  • Doorway to Wisdom Court
Creative Commons License
This work by Yvonne Montgomery is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Twitter feed

  • RT @cmclymer: Reminders: — Safe abortions will still be sought and had by conservative white women and privately encouraged by conservativ… 1 week ago
  • RT @CharlieCrist: I’m Charlie Crist. I’m running against the governor responsible for the “Don’t Say Gay” bill & the bans on math textbooks… 1 week ago
Follow @authorYvonneM

Visit me on FaceBook!

Yvonne Montgomery Ewegen

Create Your Badge

Categories

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,179 other followers

Goodreads

Wisdom Court Series

ghost, ghosts, ghost story, thriller, metaphysics, supernatural, women, dreams, accomplishments, opportunities, romance, friendship, dachshund, Boulder, Colorado, Victorian, shadows, creepy, shivers, book, good read,
ghost, ghosts, ghost story, thriller, metaphysics, supernatural, women, dreams, accomplishments, opportunities, romance, friendship, dachshund, Boulder, Colorado, Victorian, shadows, creepy, shivers,

Finny Mysteries

Mystery, women, murder, detective, amateur detective, romance, sexy cop, Denver, capitol hill, thrills, strong women, clues,
Mystery, women, murder, detective, amateur detective, romance, sexy cop, Denver, capitol hill, thrills, strong women, clues,

Owl of the Week

Robert Strickland, The Owl Pages
Robert Strickland, The Owl Pages
Laura C. Williams, The Owl Pages
Laura C. Williams, The Owl Pages
Cezary Korkosz, Photographer
Cezary Korkosz, Photographer
10402760_10204364112280310_2723184367079642034_n
Laura C. Williams
Laura C. Williams

Goodreads

Networked Blogs

NetworkedBlogs
Blog:
Writer in the Garret
Topics:
Living, Writing
 
Follow my blog

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Writer in the Garret
    • Join 1,179 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Writer in the Garret
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: