Alanna Coca: Passionate Romance with a Tender Touch » Riting Wrants

Angst

Alanna Coca — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:38:41 +0000

I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’ve got a book 99% finished. The end is so close I could write it in a few hours. Why then, am I not doing just that? I keep finding other things to occupy myself. A shiny new romance book taunts me from my desktop. Just *one more* tweak on the website. One 140 character tweet on twitter. Maybe I’ll just *check facebook* to see what’s going on. Nothing? That’s okay, I have forums to haunt, people to send senseless text messages, and maybe a movie or two to watch.

I’m pretty sure the trouble lies in the stress that comes with a finished book. If I have one in progress, then I’m “writing”. Once it’s finished, I have to figure out where I want to submit it. Once I’ve decided *that* I have to actually do the work to send it in (if the pub requires a synopsis, that’s a whole ‘nother issue!) Then comes the worst part.

WAITING. The fact that after submitting to a publisher, I have to wait two to six months to hear a yes or no…nerve wracking to say the least. Maybe subconsciously I’m putting off the stress of waiting, when really I should finish the darn thing so I can get the waiting over with. Now I’m searching the Internet for a slap in the face. Let’s hope I don’t get distracted.

NaNoWriMo

Alanna Coca — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:09:20 +0000

November is National Novel Writing Month. A challenge to authors to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. That’s only 1,667 words per day. No problem right? My usual minimum is 2K. Well, I signed up for NaNoWriMo, knowing I had no plot to work on, but I’m a pantser anyway, so I’ll just start typing, and see what comes up.

Well, I got about 1,200 words in before that idea fizzled. This makes five novels I’ve started, and not one of them is speaking to me. Last night, I started yet another. I remember someone once telling me that I always got too many things started, and never finished any. Maybe they were right.

On the other hand, there was a time when I had four novels going, and would write whichever called to me on that particular day. Not one of them was written quickly, but they all trudged ahead, and when I finally did concentrate on one, it didn’t take me as long to wrap it up. I’m hoping for the same outcome.

Maybe I should be more disciplined, but creativity doesn’t work very well with discipline.

Determination is my only motivator. I want to reach this goal, and I will, even if I have to write 10K a day during the last week. If you’re Nano’ing, add me as a buddy, (alanna coca) maybe you can keep me moving ahead instead of switching tracks mid-trip.

Hero Hating

Alanna Coca — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 06:15:00 +0000

I wanted a character who wasn’t the typical nice-guy. I needed someone who was hard-edged. disillusioned. My editor Deanna suggested that I “settle into a character’s brain”, so I did, and wrote a few chapters. Wow. I really don’t like him! He’s a real jerk! I write a bit more, and just get more and more disgusted.

Can I keep writing this guy? What do I do with him…make him the villain instead of the hero!?

It’s sad. He’s changing my book by being this way, and I can’t seem to make him behave.

(I did give him a bloody nose, thanks to the heroine, but I’m still not satisfied.)

Writer's Block

Alanna Coca — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 20:37:00 +0000

Maybe it isn’t so much writers block, as laziness and spongebob marathons on Saturdays. Who can focus on writing steamy scenes when Squidward is playing the clarinet?! There are times when I can block everything out except my tappety tap on the keys, other times I just can’t focus.

Maybe I need chocolate. Yeah, that’s it…