Where Did Summer Go? (aka Return to Blogging)

An afternoon writingHa ha ha…apparently I forgot about blogging over the summer. Whoopsie. In my defense, I was busy drafting the first part of my next novel work-in-progress (a pirate fantasy with bits of Sleeping Beauty, and Greek and Norse myth thrown in), as well as editing the finished draft of another novel (about a Russian ballerina vampire paired with a smart-ass NYC detective). Oh, and I managed to write a novelette this past month, too (a Red Riding Hood reboot)!

See? I was legitimately busy. Yep. Totally not avoiding the blog as if I had only half-brained ideas on what to write…of course not!

Why Stories Always Come First

In all seriousness, I wasn’t trying to avoid blogging, dear readers. But when I’m not working at my day job or spending time with my family (including a husband who broke both of his ankles this summer, poor thing), then I’m holed away somewhere working on my next novel project. And querying. Not going to talk about the querying today though. *bites nails at that thought with a small eep*

I love writing. Love. There is nothing better than sitting down on a Saturday afternoon and having the words flow from my fingertips, sharing in the laughter and tears of my characters as I write their heights of triumph and depths of despair. And yes, I do enjoy sticking my characters in a tree and pelting them with as many rocks as I can. Or dangling the promise of danger and romance, only to snatch it away, leaving my characters cursing my name. I think Hess, the dashing male counterpart to my pirate captain main character, can attest to that. He’s probably mad at me now, given he’s quite enamored with Aurora, the fearless pirate whose ship he’s snuck on board; only problem is that she’s a woman on a quest and has no time for romantic dalliances. Poor Hess. But hey, at least he hasn’t been thrown overboard! Yet…

See, when Hess and Aurora or any of my other characters demand to be heard, I’m obliged to continue writing their story. That makes up for the occasional spells of silence (like now – picture me glaring at my pirates and mentally yelling at them to start talking again). Sometimes those spells of silence are a good thing, however, as I turn to writing short(ish) stories to keep my writing chops up. That’s how I came to write my recent fairy-tale retelling of Red Riding Hood, which I’m currently polishing with the help of some lovely CPs. And that fairy-tale retelling has inspired another potential novelette length story that I’m mulling over and about to write soon…if the pirates don’t start talking (hint hint, says the writer to her inner thoughts).

Anyway, that’s partially what I’ve been up to over the summer, besides lovely vacations, editing, and grumbling over the process of obtaining a writing retreat in the woods (more on that soon).  Thus endeth my poor excuse for not blogging. Annnnnd now it’s October! Yeesh.

~Elaine, who is rather random on this fine Saturday afternoon

How do you keep your blogging momentum going? Do you find it necessary if you’re in that writing groove? (Non-writers who are bloggers, please chime in, too! I always like to learn from others.)

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2 Replies to “Where Did Summer Go? (aka Return to Blogging)”

  1. Hey Elaine,

    I just blog. Not much help, I know. But thinking of something of value to share is the important thing to me.

    I don’t do the stream of consciousness stuff because EEK–putting out unedited work–no.

    Sometimes I get on a roll, and I can do a lot of short stories. Those are my most popular posts. Including memoir, which was a surprise. I bet you’d be good at those. Just make sure you have an event that lends itself to an actual story structure.

    Then there are writing blogs, on the actual craft, and those are usually the hardest. There is absolutely no point in adding to the misinformation in the world, so these have to be accurate.

    My personal reflections tend to do well, but I don’t write that many of them, so I don’t have many data points there.

    Basically, I blog on anything that I think might have actual value to somebody out there. Formatting tips, handy shortcuts, etc. I just went and checked my last eight posts (listed in the top right of my sidebar, so it was easy). I had two author interviews, one on the writing craft, one writing motivational, one announcement, one tip, one book review, and one story. Other times it will be slightly different mixes, but those are my basic components.

    Don’t know if that helps at all–let me know if there’s anything else I can do. 🙂 C

    • Thanks for weighing in, Cathleen. Your comments are always helpful! Hmm – memoirs and personal reflections. Not bad. I’ll have to think on those. I’ve been meaning to share a little more on my hiking and travel adventures, since those often inform the backdrops for the stories I write, whether intentionally or subconsciously.

      As for story structure…you mean I can’t ramble aimlessly? 🙂 Darn!

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