Breaking the keyboard probably wouldn't be helpful, BUT I REALLY FUCKING WANT TO!

[sweetprince]

I think something gets lost when I'm attempting to write fiction somewhere between my brain and the keyboard. I feel like if I could just dictate, have myself a bitchin' court stenographer with a good love of porn to just sit with me for a few hours I'd get all my damn stories done.

I've been writing a Sam/Dean 1930s fic since I saw Johnny Dangerously again in November. I really like what I've done with it so far, however, I'm at this hump (more like insurmountable mountain) with it. I've been at it since Christmas, and I don't know how to just get over it already (the very grandiose paragraph-long description of Sam's well-tailored three piece suit probably is not the answer).

This combined with the utter crash and burn of my Underworld/SPN xover has got me more than a little tetchy. For all of you people who manage to write amazing fics around the clock, I'm feeling a little like I could kill you right now, but mostly it's just out of respect. HOW DO YOU DO IT?

Comments

[xtinethepirate.livejournal.com]

I had a post like this a while back as well (http://xtinethepirate.livejournal.com/77765.html#cutid1) and the best advice I got? Was to sit back and relax. You're not being paid to write this stuff, it's supposed to be FUN, not work. And the moment it becomes work, the moment it brings you down and makes you teary, it's time to get up and get away from the computer. Sometimes stories aren't just meant to be, you know?

BUT. Something that might perk you up. One of my favourite authors is Neil Gaiman, and I only just recently got a chance to read one of his more recent books, "Coraline". And in the back of the book, he says (and I quote)

"More than ten years ago, I started to write [Coraline]. The story, which I had been writing in my own time... ground to a halt. Years passed.... I bought a notebook, and started to write in it. It sat on my bedside table, and for the next couple of years I would scrawl fifty words, sometimes a hundred words, before I went to sleep. ...It's the strangest book I've written, it took the longest to write, and it's the book I'm proudest of."

My point is that writer's block like this happens to everyone. Write what you want when you're inspired to do it, set it aside when you're not, or else you'll lose the reason that we write in fandoms.

Believe me, I definitely know what you're going through. I have written a grand total of one fic since January, and it was a 2 page extended drabble. But you never know what's lurking around the next bend. Last summer I was in a fandom and writing rut, hadn't written anything for 3 months. Then ALG came along, and all of a sudden I couldn't turn the creative side of my brain off.

You're an amazing writer. That isn't just going to dry up and blow away. Wait for it to come back and it will... and try not to kill yourself in the meantime. ♥!

(and I have -- FINALLY -- your CD all made and in the envelope and addressed... only to be told at the desk that they didn't have any more international stamps. I'm checking back on Monday, and then it will be on its way.)

[dark-reaction.livejournal.com]

Ah, Xtine, how I do love you. It hasn't become work, it just doesn't seem to have the same reward. I hate to say this but the first chapter of my underworld fic got some 30 comments, second chapter got 19, and the third got 8...I mean, I don't mean to be a comment whore, but it's like, why am I writing this if you people aren't reading it. I'm glad that you think I'm an amazing writer, even if I can't seem to see it at the mo'.

Speaking of the dear Mr. Gaiman, I've been rereading Good Omens since I got home. It's been a very glorious experience.

As for the CD, since I'm not in New Haven anyway, it hardly matters if it arrives in a week or two, because I wouldn't get until then anyway. But, I love that you're still trying for me. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

[xtinethepirate.livejournal.com]

*sighs* I wish I had more time to read. I've had Anansai Boys sitting on my bookshelf untouched for MONTHS. I bought it over Xmas and haven't had a chance to read this. And books that I've never read sit on their shelves and sing little songs like "come reaaaaaad me" and basically get under my skin.

The CD is in the mail. Whether it reaches you or not remains to be seen, haha. I put a few dollars worth of international and US stamps on it, so it SHOULD get to you. *hopes* It ought to take about 14 days. If it hasn't shown up in 21, I'll do a yousendit thing, since that was my last and only blank CD, hehehe. ^___^

[dark-reaction.livejournal.com]

I bought Anansi boys over Christmas too, and still have not read it. Sigh. Such is life.