Monday, March 03, 2008

Writing Muscles

I went to my chapter meeting on Saturday. I always drag my feet about going, I'm not sure why. I enjoy the meetings and such, enjoy the camaraderie of meeting with my fellow writers and having an excuse to wander around a bookstore afterwards. I think my reluctance to go stems from my guilt over not writing. Who goes to a writer's group and doesn't write?

Our speaker didn't show so we filled the time in with other things. For me, that meant picking the brains of the other writers about my lack of writing. Shannon Donnelly is a very active member of our chapter and is one of the smartest people I know, told me I'm out of writing shape. I sit down, expect to write 10 pages then get disappointed because I am unable to accomplish my goal. I am setting myself up for failure. It made sense to me. When I'm writing regularly, I tend to write 5-10 pages a day. But that is wehn I'm in writing "shape." Shannon mentioned an article she had written about "writing muscle." If you are struggling with writing I recommend reading it, she makes a great deal of sense. She also helped me with a game plan for my next novel and getting myself back into the business of writing to sell. She's also pushing me to head to conference. So the next thing is to plunk the money down for conference. I'm hoping that will give me the impetus to get going on my writing.

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