We meet again, little blinking cursor.
As I stare at yet another blank page, I can’t help but wonder where the muse will take me today. Most authors, sane authors, have a backlist of books just waiting to come out. Sequels they have been dying to write, dreams oozing with inspiration. Not me. To quote Dory: “I’ve got nothing in my noggin’.”
Sure there are sequels I could write; short stories I could flesh out, but none of them are what the muse wants to write at this particular point, and without her say so, the words simply cease to come, as is evidenced by this tremendously long ramble. What I am trying to say, dear reader, is that there is quite literally a blank page in my mind.
So, what, besides drink, is an author to do?
Nothing to do but wait, I’m afraid.
It’s a phenomenon that seems to happen after each book I write; the Blank Page Freeze. I suppose it’s understandable if you stop to think about it. I have typically spent the better half of a year on a book, inside that character’s world, looking out with that character’s eyes…I guess it’s only natural that one doesn’t know how to act when they are no longer in that familiar place. I think it’s safe to say my mind is still stuck inside of Sarah’s head from ENIGMA. I have a feeling she may linger in my mind a bit longer than others.
This vacant phase would normally not be a problem as I would just wait for inspiration to hit as I puttered along, but I am trying a new approach to my writing… One book I’m marketing, one book I’m editing and one book I’m writing. Different days for different tasks. The other two days, I’m fine, I’m good to go. I know my job and I do it, but it’s the new material day, or ‘Wicked Wednesday’ as I call it, that is proving to be a bit of a challenge. (This blog post was written on such a Wednesday, although posted on a Monday. Sure, it’s not a new story, but it IS new content, so it totally counts. *cough.)
Only two more days til Wicked Wednesday is upon me again… If I am going to stick to the new writing plan I have created for myself, I think I’ll need to teach my muse to schedule her time better, because clearly, she missed the memo.
Danielle Bannister, Author 