Most people don’t have much time to read these days. Everyone stays so busy that the special moments found inside the pages of a book don’t seem to matter. But let me just say, when I do have a free moment, I try to get lost in between the covers of a romance, mystery, or paranormal book. It takes you away from the world we live in and takes you to another place or time.
So, try to find a few minutes every day to do something for yourself. And yes, I’m guilty of letting life take those minutes from me. I’ve been reading the same book for months and need to get back to it. I’m taking my life back, one page at a time. And that goes for writing too!
If you’re looking for something to fill that space, then check out some of my books. I put my heart in every word and hope that if just for a moment, I can take away the stress of the day for one reader. To start, check out Ridge, the first book in the Five Oaks Ranch Series. It’s Free! And one of my bestsellers!
Good morning! Hope all is well… Today I’m talking about that story. You know the one. The story grabs you by the collar and pulls you around until you do something with it. Have you ever had that happen? Most writers have. But today’s story is one that can’t go anywhere. What?
I, as many writers do, have a stack of unfinished manuscripts. The story filled our head and needed to be told, but only a chapter or maybe a couple of chapters in you hit a wall. And every way you try to get around that wall, you only end up digging a hole that just keeps going. So why do you keep trying? It’s the writer in you. The part of the writer’s brain that sees something that could be, but can’t be. You may say that doesn’t make sense, but hear me out.
For example, I had a storyline come to me during my writer’s block that seemed perfect. Almost too perfect. The beginning held so much promise. But as I wrote, the story got fuzzy, almost unrecognizable. All I was doing was putting words on the page just to make it to the next chapter. When I went back to read over what I wrote, well, let’s just say ‘Yuck’. It wasn’t the story I saw in my head. And it definitely wasn’t something I would publish. So, instead of wasting my time, I put it to the side. Maybe one day… But not today.
Although some discarded manuscripts do become a reality. One such manuscript was ‘Ghost Lover’. It was my first published manuscript. But the story started out over twenty years earlier. I had a vision but for some reason, it faded. I placed that manuscript in a desk drawer and left it there. I thought of it often but didn’t pick it back up until 2012 when my niece found it along with many other manuscripts. She read what I had on paper, yes it was typed on a typewriter, you know, old-school writing. Well, she said that it had a lot of promise.
I began to read the manuscript and realized, she was right. The story began to blossom inside my heart and poured out like water from a fountain. In only days I’d written over 30,000 words. So, from a discarded manuscript, one I thought couldn’t go anywhere, came one of my bestselling novels and my first published book.
So, my advice is this. If you have a manuscript that doesn’t seem to go anywhere, don’t totally give up. Just set it aside and come back to it later. It’s possible that it might become your bestseller one day or just collect dust in a drawer.
As always, good writing, and May God Bless You…
P.S. If you’re looking for your next read, give one of Ghost Lover a try!
I’ve struggled the last couple of months with writer’s block. It was something I never thought I would struggle with, but it hit and nothing I did would help. I don’t think my muse was gone, just on vacation. When you put words on paper and then stare at them like they are alien to you, that’s when you step back and take a breather.
Have I written anything? Yes. But only in spurts. I actually have three projects going and some days I would write a little in each one, or just one at a time. A lot of days I didn’t write anything. It was hard on me because I’ve always written something every day. And in some ways, I think it added to my anxiety not to have my out. Writing has always been my calming, but when this mysterious writer’s block swept in like a bad storm, well, it became the thing that made me most anxious.
But after a lot of prayer and time away from my laptop, my muse is flexing its muscles and wiggling its fingers, ready to get back in the saddle. And my mind is once again filled with the story that needs to be written. It’s filled with the possibilities of what could come of an idea. I love the moments of searching out an idea that needs to be continued in the pages of a book.
Stephanie Hurt - Romance Author 