Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Best Laid Plans

Yesterday I wrote 2143 words on my WIP. It all just came out and only took me an hour and a half. So I was super excited for today because it was my day off.

I got up early ran 5 km, got groceries, cleaned my kitchen, vacuumed, and even visited with my sister for a little bit, all by 10:30am. The kids were at school, the house was clean, and husband was gone to physio (he works out of the house). I went down to my computer and checked my email, then I checked facebook, and then I checked my blog. There was nothing.

I could delay no longer. I opened a new document and typed Chapter Seven at the top. I wrote a paragraph, but hated it so I erased it. Tried again, but hated it even more. I must have stared at that blank page for an hour.

Finally I decided to do some research, maybe I just needed some direction. So I looked up dragons, because right now my MC's in a cavern and about to fight a dragon. So where do I go to find out information; Youtube. Actually they had a very interesting documentary from Animal Planet on there. Apparently a dragon was found in some ice caves in Romanian. Did you know they have two sets of lungs; one set for breathing and the others are filled with hydrogen. They called them flight bladders. Isn't that a great description, flight bladders.

After watching the 4 parts of the show I started to feel tired so I went upstairs to have a nap. I thought if I just get some sleep I'll be able to finish the chapter. Instead husband comes home and wants to talk; so much for my nap.

I go back down to the computer, still nothing. I can't think of anything. It's horrible and frustrating. The words flowed so effortlessly yesterday, my hands could barely type fast enough and I type pretty fast (60 wpm).

It's now 2:15. I decide to go do an errand and pick up daughter from school, except daughter and friend are no where to be found. The bell rang early and they didn't stay by the doors. I ran to the bus, not there. Luckily she was back in the office waiting patiently for me. We had a scare with her a few months ago, which is a completely different story.

Came home after telling daughter to stay by her classroom door if I'm not there right away. Listened to older boys tell me about their day and then I went to the computer again. Still nothing. So I shut it down and watched my son play Halo 3 before making dinner.

After dinner I went and helped my husband with basketball evaluations for younger son, went and picked daughter up from grandma's house then picked other son up at football. Fed him and took him to basketball practice.

Now that I finally have the two younger kids in bed I'm writing this post instead of working on Chapter Seven. I figure nothing came to me all day so I'm leaving Chapter Seven blank and hope that tomorrow will be a better day.

Do you have days like that? One day you can't write fast enough and other days: Nothing.

13 comments:

Susan R. Mills said...

Oh, Patti, those days happen all the time! It is so frustrating, isn't it? I hope tomorrow is better for you.

JKB said...

I have those days too. I hate them!

*hug*

Today will be better.

Natalie said...

Oh yes. My problem is I don't have enough of the super-productive days to compensate for the lousy ones. So frustrating.

Hope today is better for you.

Anonymous said...

Most days are nothing for me. I cherish the good writing days. A 2000K word day for me is a miracle.

Still, I'm impressed with how much non-writing stuff you did. Good for you.

Heidi Willis said...

I think this is so common, Patti! When it happens to me, I try to average the number of words I write over a few days, instead of looking just at one day.

But overall, it looks like you've been very productive, writing as well as all the other things in your life!

Patti said...

Susan: I hope today is better. I only have to work until 1pm so maybe I'll get an hour in.

JKB: Thanks for the hug.

Natalie: I think I might have two productive days a week. that's it. I really need to up that ratio

Patti said...

SW: There are some days that are just way too crazy when it comes to the kids schedule.

Heidi: That's a good idea. I've been trying to do a chapter in a day, but maybe I need to spread it out.

Dara said...

Oh yeah it happens quite often for me. Many times I get to picky with how it sounds and won't go past the first or second chapter as I keep going back to revise. That's why I love when NaNo comes--I just write and try not to think too hard about how crappy it sounds :P

If I was a good little writer, I'd work like it was NaNo every month of the year. Alas, I'm not...though I really do try!

Holly Kennedy said...

Happens to me all the time.
It never changes, and I hear from other authors that it never gets any better, either.

So... when creativity strikes, push everything else aside!

Patti said...

Dara: I've never participated in NaNo, maybe I'll have to this year.

Holly: Good point, next time when the words are flowing I'll stay up later.

Anonymous said...

Yes, yes, oh yes :) They happen to all of us, and so frustrating! Just remember, it will pass :)

Patti said...

Notenoughwords: It did pass. I was able to type 1000 words last night.

Anonymous said...

More times than I care to admit lately. Guess I'm in good company.