Ahhh, another week has come and gone. Since the new year, I have felt like the weeks fly by...I blink and suddenly it is time to write up another Friday Five...but not this week, my friends, not this week. This has been the longest flippin week (I would finish the cliche and say 'of my life', but that just isn't true...dramatic, but false). I am tired. And I feel unmotivated. And have been so easily annoyed this week- nearly to the point of tears (don't worry, I didn't cry...I just talked myself out of it like a crazy person). So, I am ecstatic that it is Friday and I can sleep in as long as I want tomorrow (maybe 9am?! Maybe!) Alright folks, here is my Friday Five:
1. Well, I made an effort to go to a show this week...my friend Amy and I were going to go see a local show on Thursday night...but then my Starbucks store meeting was changed from Wednesday to Thursday, and that meant I couldn't go to the show. Boo. Hiss. You know what I have been really into lately though? Pandora.com. Have you used it before? You type in an artist that you like and then it creates a radio station for you, with music that fits with that artist. I have created stations with Ryan Adams, David Gray, Van Morrison, Damien Rice, etc. I like to pick an artist according to my writing mood, and then just let it go while I write. I have yet to do any upbeat music..lol, maybe that would help with my lame-o attitude this week. Maybe I'll try that this afternoon.
2. A positive aspect to being unmotivated is that I have gotten some good reading in. I have read three full books this week. I know, that is ridiculous. Nothing overly fantastic...although I do recommend the "Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie. I finished that, and I really, really liked it. It was sad, definitely...and I cried (that isn't saying a whole lot lately, though...hehe)...but really good. Another character that I like. I have discovered what makes a character a good one for me...I really appreciate a character that keeps a positive attitude and keeps trying through the obstacles they face. The characters that have a rough life (and they all do, since it is a book, and there has to be some problem for the characters to overcome) and get all depressed and stop talking to people and blame themselves for things out of their control, etc. kind of drive me crazy. It's too easy. Too easy to let yourself get that way and too cliche to write about. I appreciate reading about characters that fight through that...of course they still have their down moments...but they don't last long and they don't let it affect them for more than a little while.
3. I have figured out a third regular topic for the Friday Five...although I think it might be hard to do every week. I want to do something that scares me or is uncomfortable...gets me out of my comfort zone each week. So this week, I went to a writing group. I was scared. We met at Louisa's (love that...that may have been the thing that actually got me to go!) and for the first 30 minutes, we just wrote. In a notebook, nonstop...you weren't supposed to stop writing or cross anything out. Then at the end of the 30 minutes, we read- out loud- to the group- what we wrote. Yeah, scary. And while I turned that ridiculous shade of bright red that I tend to turn, it was good. I was proud of myself when it was over. I didn't write anything for my current book...but I did start my outline for the children's series I have been thinking about. I am going to make an effort to go back..even though the thought is still scary.
4. A few big changes a-coming at Starbucks...we had a meeting about it last night...and I can't write about it...but you will see soon enough...and then I will blog about it. Oh, yes I will.
5. I have been really out of it with my book this last week. I think I wrote one sentence, the whole week...and that was after a lot of staring at the screen. I'm not sure how to get past it. I think I need to just write, knowing I can edit anything later...it doesn't have to be good...I just have to get past this place. I watched a youtube video last night with Stephenie Meyer (the twilight author) and Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson (Bella and Edward)...because I felt like I needed to watch something with an attractive boy. I know, I know...don't judge. The POINT I am making is...Stephenie said something interesting that I am hoping to take to my book. Someone asked how she related to Bella, her main character, and she said that she didn't really at all...her and Bella are completely different. Why would she want to write about a life she already knows...what is the fun of that? And I have been struggling with my main character, because I just keep basing her on me...and it is boring me...so I am going to change her a bit. Give her a different non-Eryn dimension. That will be good.
I feel like this was a boring Friday Five. I'm sorry. Like I said, it has been a lame-o week for me. Hope yours was terrificly better.
-E
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