A Spark of Inspiration

I've been working a lot on my second novel but for a few days, I was having really bad writer's block. I really do try my best every day to write. It makes me happy and feel more productive. But some days are harder than others. It's difficult to be creative every single day and sometimes it feels like all of my creative juices have been dried up.

But then sometimes you have a magical moment where you're mid-sentence and all of a sudden, you get a spark of inspiration where you come up with a major plot twist. Then the book ends up taking an entirely different direction and you become extremely invested in your new idea. The excitement you felt when you first started writing comes back to you and you feel so proud of what you're doing. It seriously is one of the best feelings in the world.

For anyone else that's working on a novel right now but has hit some writer's block, just keep pushing through. It'll come. But remember, sometimes it does a person good to take a break for a little bit and recharge.

Happy Friday/Valentine's Day!

-Chelsea

Writer's Block

Unfortunately, lately I've been having a lot of writer's block. It doesn't matter if it's for my two blogs or my attempt to write a second novel. I have this urge to write every single day but it's so hard when your mind is blocked creatively.

It's not for lack of trying though. For example, the hardest thing to do, in my opinion, when writing a novel is to start it. There is something so scary about starting this new project, this new adventure and it makes it more real. And then I start to think, "What if it's horrible? What if I spend years of my life slaving away on this project and it's not good enough? What if I'm never published?" I try to block out those thoughts but they scare the hell out of me and my brain freezes.

But for the past few days, I have been sitting down in front of my laptop, with a new page open, and I've started the first few pages of my new novel. Several times. Every time that I think that I get a good idea, I go to write it and writer's block, that little thing, creeps it's way back into my head. I try to push through it and then I end up feeling as if my work isn't good anymore because it's so forced. I ended up deleting everything that I'd written, determined to find a fresh new idea to beat my writer's block.

I wish that it wasn't happening with blogging though because when it comes to blogging, you can write about anything. Everything is a potential subject. And yet, I'm still grasping at straws, trying to find new topics of inspiration. But tonight, I just said to myself, "Enough is enough. You're going to write."

So how did I get through my blogging writer's block? I wrote a blog about writer's block.

Oh, the irony.

Now if only I could get through my writer's block for my novel. I guess know what I'm doing tomorrow!

How do you get through writer's block?

-Chelsea

Fantasy Writing

I always used to think that the idea of writing a fantasy-based story would never appeal to me. I thought that they wouldn't be serious enough for me or evoke enough emotion from my potential readers. I wanted to write stories that meant something and would make others feel a real connection to my characters. Then I remembered how much the Harry Potter books affected millions of people, young and old, across the globe and how, even though the books/movies are done, they still live on in the hearts of the fans. It was then that I snapped out of that delusional idea that I couldn't affect people with a fantasy story.

I realized that as long as a story is written well and it has compelling characters, people will read it and enjoy it. It doesn't matter where the story takes place or if the main character has magical powers. People want to read well-written material, so that's where you get your start.

So the other day while I was at the beach thinking about the horrible writer's block that I was suffering from, I got the idea for a fantasy novel. I tried not to get too excited because I'm always afraid that someone else has beat me to the idea. So I got home and Googled the idea and saw that it made no matches. I was elated and quickly began jotting down ideas.

Normally, within the first few days of thinking about a story, I can tell if the idea truly sucks and isn't going to work; then, of course, I stop working on it. I never throw away any of the outlines or completely reject any of my ideas because I hope that one day, I can revisit them and turn them into something wonderful. Until then, I'm going to be pouring all of my focus into this story, in hopes that I will be able to turn it into a novel that I can be proud of and want to share with the world.

I'm so glad that I decided to take a chance on this novel because there is so much more freedom of writing in the fantasy realm. I can make up worlds and rules based on whatever is inside my wild and vivid imagination and it allows my writing to grow. So stay tuned for updates on whether or not this story ends up published; I hope it will be and then all of my readers will be able to say that they knew me before my dreams came true. :)

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