Writing Blues

First, my apologies for not posting last week. And again, apologies for this post not being what I had planned initially.

I've kind of run into the writing blues lately. Part of me thinks it's the weather shift, the change in the seasons that has me a bit down. The colder months have a way of dragging me down, like I have this innate need to hibernate or something. Funny enough, I actually live in a town where someone once lived who was famous for "hibernating", or not leaving his apartment for the entire winter--his name was Arthur "Turkey" Gehrke.

OK, that was a tangent. Perhaps that's part of my problem too--my mind wanders into insane directions.

Now, I know many people say to just keep writing, push through, ignore how you feel. Unfortunately, my moods tend to affect my writing. It's kind of weird. If I'm not into the writing, it's obvious. That would be fine if I were working on a first draft and it didn't matter if it was messy, but I'm trying to revise Dead As Dreams! This revision needs to be the best it can be, as I don't want to wait for another five years before I start submitting the manuscript places.

I think my other issue is I'm kind of feeling left behind. Both of my crit partners are actively publishing things, either through an e-publisher or some of it indie published. They're so busy with their writing, and I'm at a different stage with my writing--I still need feedback, so the dominoes can go off in my head. Me, I had another rejection come back for The Mind Behind the Mind last week. I would consider indie publishing it, but I need the next two books in that trilogy lined up before Mind can be released. All of that takes time, and with running the house and caring for my 4-year-old, I feel like time is slipping through my fingers. So, I get overwhelmed and then depressed, which leads to freezing up.

I also know other people say ditch all of your hobbies/pastimes/downtime to write. If I do that I'm even more frazzled. If I don't have time to veg each day, I'll give myself an anxiety attack (I get enough of those the way it is).

What's my point to this post? I guess it's just a bit of a vent, getting my frustrations out there. I'll get over it all, I have to, because if I don't keep writing something inside of me will shrivel up and die, and I can't have that happen. I might just need to allow myself to take a break, to take it all one step at a time, and stop getting ahead of myself. It'll get done when it gets done, and one day I'll be at the same level as many of my other writer friends--it'll just take me a bit longer.

So, what do you do to get over the writing blues? Have you ever found yourself in a funk that makes it hard for you to write or work on other things? I'd love to hear what other people have done to pull themselves out of that funk!

NEXT UP: Monthly Update (Next Wednesday)

SFFS Snippet - 9/15/12

Time for Lazarus to dance. "Do you wish the aid of a spirit seeker?"

The chief pushed his spectacles up the bridge of his nose. "There are restless spirits that refuse to leave their old home for their new one."

The dialogue was the same every time. A changed word here and there, but Lazarus knew all his lines. "When they see me, they will go home and leave you in peace."

"We wish them honor, not harm. They are souls that are dear to us. We welcome a gentle hand, Spirit Seeker."

From Dead As Dreams, Chapter 3 (novel currently in the revision process)

About Dead As Dreams:

Dreams are in danger and souls are chained to the earth. Aysa, the Shepherd of Dreams, and Lazarus, a spirit seeker, join forces to restore the balance between dreams and nightmares and life and death. They face a rogue spirit seeker and a manipulator of nightmares--both intent on unhinging the world, but there is yet another pulling the strings.

Please visit Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday (SFFS) to read more great snippets!

NEXT UP: Classic Voltron: Defender of the Universe-- Episode Two! Change of plans - Writing Blues!

A Gamer's Lexicon - Entry 2

Screenshot from Everquest

A Gamer's Lexicon series touches upon terms players use in video games. The terms here mostly come from my experiences in the MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) Everquest. This series will hopefully help the non-gamers understand some of the terms gamers use. And gamers may find it humorous as well! If you have any gaming terms (from any type of video game or table top gaming) you would like me to address in the future, or if you think I should add something to already defined terms, please post in the comments--I may ask you to define a term though, if it isn't one I've come across before. Happy hunting!

The previous terms in A Gamer's Lexicon series can be found here:

Entry 1: RNG, RNG Gods, mob, loot, wipe

5 more terms to add to your gamer-speak arsenal!

Newb or Newbie - This term refers to players that are new to the game (or gaming in general) and don't know most of the ropes. Newbies tend to ask a lot of questions. Whether players want to admit it or not, everyone was a newbie at one time!

Noob - Yes, this is different than newb. Noob is actually more of an insult. When one player is upset with another, she may call that player a noob. It's like saying said person is an idiot, so much that he acts like a new player. People that have been playing a game for years do not like being called noobs. Don't piss older players off, as they may have no gaming etiquette and decide to train (term defined below) you.

Aggro - When you engage a mob, you aggro it. Most times attacking the mob with weapons or spells will aggro the mob, but you can also aggro it if it is hostile to you, or KoS (term defined below), and you pass near it. Make sure to have invis on if you're running through a pack of mobs! However, some may see through your invis and aggro you anyhow. Eek!

Train - To create a train, a player aggros a bunch of mobs, then she runs about with all the mobs following her. If she is cruel, she can purposefully run through another group in attempt to wipe that group--the mobs may decide to jump the group members and the player training will lose aggro. Some trains are accidental, though. A player who aggros a mob on accident may run for her life, gathering more mobs in the process. Most of these panicked players run to a zone line, which will end aggro. The kind thing to do when this happens is to call, "Train to zone!" so people standing at a zone line will know to move out of the way before they aggro the mobs and die!

KoS - Kill on Sight. Many mobs in games like Everquest are KoS to the players. This means, if the KoS mobs see a player, it will attack her immediately. There is actually a system where if you stay far enough away from the mob so it doesn't notice you, you can check, or con, the mob to see if it is KoS or not. But con is a term to be defined another day. =)

There are just too many terms I would have loved to list here, but I have to limit myself! Next time. ;)

NEXT UP: SFFS Snippet - 9/15/12