Ideas...There's Too Many!

I personally think this is a good problem to have. If we didn't have ideas, we wouldn't be able to write a story. A lot of times i'll be working on one manuscript when inspiration hits. It can be a tad distracting, especially since I'm trying to focus on one thing and not on a hundred, but that's just how my brain works. Instead of putting it aside, I write down the specific scene that attacked my imagination so I'll remember it for later. I used to work on multiple projects at once, but that didn't go so well since I never finished any of those manuscripts. So now I write down little bits here and there when i feel inspired, but use most of my attention on just one thing. It took time, guys. I'm easily distracted.

As writers our greatest asset is our imagination. It's what we use to create new worlds, to find those beautiful perfect words to describe it, it's how we thrive. I love making stuff up in my head, it's great to have voices talking to me (not sure I should say that out in public, but you get my point), those voices drive us with their need to be spoken and heard. So don't ignore them. A lot of times I'll read tweets from other authors cursing the shiny new idea, but guess what, that shiny new idea ain't gonna go away unless you do something about it. If you're not feeling inspired by what you're currently working on, I don't think you would be cheating by starting that pretty idea, in fact I would encourage you to do so. Your lack of enthusiasm will show up in your work. For me, once I get that idea written down and squared away for later, the enthusiasm I need for my current project returns.

What about you guys, do you guys give into that distracting and eye glaring new project? Or do you push it aside for another time?

Five for Friday

1. So I signed up for a writer's conference...and a ten minute agent pitch session. Kind of freaking out since I have NO IDEA how to pitch to an agent! Ahhh! Good thing I have a few months to figure it out.

2. My ten month old has been walking for a few weeks now (I know, my girls are unusually fast walkers) and I swear to you she looks like a penguin when she gets going. It's so cute and so sad because it's the last time I'll experience this stage.

3. I got go watch Warm Bodies earlier this week with the hubs. It was cute, but predictable. Which may be because I've read the book. But it was fun and so nice to get out for a bit. I'm seriously dying to see Beautiful Creatures but I don't think I can convince my hubs to go with me...I'll have to figure something out.

4. My family had the opportunity to take a mini-vacay and visit some family earlier this week. i decided to take a hard copy of my manuscript along with me, I wanted go over it one more time and see if there was anything I missed. Well, the husband has been wanting to read it again since I made so many changes and he asked me to read out loud to him. It was great. I felt silly at first, but reading your work out loud really helps to find those small glitches in your work, wording that's not working, repetitiveness, unrealistic dialogue. It was nice. Hubby even pointed some of these things out to me, I guess he's a better listener than I give him credit for.

5. I hope all of you had a wonderful Valentine's Day, or an awesome 14th of February if you didn't celebrate. We're going to wait until tomorrow for our official V-Day celebration in order to avoid all the crowds.

Have an awesome weekend! And don't forget to buy discounted Valentine's Day chocolate!

What's This? A New Post?!?

Sorry for the blog silence lately, guys! I wish I had a legitimate reason for not being 'here' like a broken arm or awful sickness or a house fire, unfortunately laziness and a slump in brain activity is the true culprit. I haven't had any new ideas for a blog post. I've been focusing on getting the query process started and working on my other projects. It seems like I have less and less time to focus on all the things I want to lately. And apparently I'm not alone. Am I the only one that's noticed the slump in blogging activity around the blogosphere? It's weird, right? It's like we've all been hit with the 'whatever, I'll get to it later' bug.

I'm trying to think of this as a positive. If we're not here, then we must be off working on our manuscripts, right? It's also only month two into the New Year and I think a lot of us want to focus on resolutions and goals which, as writers, tend to be something along the lines of trying to get some actual writing done.

I'm happy to report that I'm starting to get some new blogging ideas, although not that original, they are ones I personally haven't posted on before. So, here I am, making my triumphant return (hopefully it lasts). What have you guys been up to?