Its Michelle's fault!

Sorry for being gone for awhile. My absence isn't Michelle's fault... I'll get to her in a minute ;). You see, I had the flu for 2 solid weeks. It wiped me out and it took all of my energy to make it to school each day. After the flu went away I had an allergic reaction to a smoothie I drank one morning. It really sucked and lasted 2 days. Then came food poisoning this week.

Besides the illness issues, I've had some other big things happen. None of them were Michelle's fault either. I was picked to be a student ambassador at my college. Around 30 students had been nominated... six were chosen. I am one of them! I had also gotten a job, went through the process of the background check and all that, and then the position had been cancelled the day before my start date. I dumped the guy who I had been in a stagnant relationship with (if you want to even consider it a relationship), got to go out on a date with a guy I had my eye on for awhile to find out we were not right for each other at all, and then I met the guy who is right for me.

Over the past two months I've lost some friends, gained some. Family has moved away while other family members have been trying to re-establish a relationship with me. I've seen some wonderful authors I haven't visited with in awhile which are moments I cherish. These things aren't Michelle's fault either.

When all of these things weren't happening, I had thought about writing but couldn't. I don't know if it is some severe writer's block or just simply lack of interest. I'm in the middle of some writing projects and haven't wanted to write a word. I decided that writing had become a job for me and not something I did because I love it. I decided that I would forget about contracts and editors and reviews and submitting books. I would embrace writing again and learn to fall in love with everything all over again. This lasted 1 day. I went back to not wanting to write again.

Here is where Michelle comes in. I decided to meet her for coffee on Sunday. After telling her my problem, she asked me what I have been focused on. I told her that I've been working out a lot and that is where my focus lies. I go to the gym every single day, am watching what I eat all of the time, and chatting with people online about fitness. She decided that I need to channel that energy through my character. "Try a new project," she suggested. Then it hit me! I had a book on my idea list that has a lot to do with a bigger girl who decides to lose weight to progress in her career. When I got home from our visit, all I wanted to do was write... and I did! I figured that this new motivation would quickly pass as it had done before, but its been 3 days and the feeling hasn't left yet.

I have a gazillion assignments due in the morning and guess what? I don't want to do them. I only want to write... and IT IS ALL MICHELLE'S FAULT!!

Talk to you soon,
Wendy Ely

Busy... not writing.

So I need to write a blog post since it is the lovely Wednesday. I've been racking my brain trying to think of a blog post. Something interesting. Something writing related since we all either write books or read them. Something great. But nothing came to mind other than the fact that I'm NOT writing. I don't mean this blog either. When I have the time to work on my ms, I can't. My writing time comes so far apart that I can no longer connect with my characters or the story. I have a few books in the works and each story is one I had been passionate about when I first started. I just don't have the time to reread the ms which is driving me crazy. I want to write. I need to write. I can't write.

My goal for this week is to put a solid effort in to get back into the swing of writing. Check back next week to see my progress.

If you have any ideas to overcome this, feel free to pass them on to me! I'd love to hear 'em!

Talk to you soon,
Wendy Ely

The 4-1-1 on Nanowrimo and my plans!

The buzz on blogs and networking sites is Nanowrimo (national novel writing month) which runs in November. Some people call it a contest, I call it a program. The goal is to write at least a 50,000 word novel during that month. It's crazy. It's fun. And it pushes through writer's block. The site is www.nanowrimo.org

So with all of the works-in-progress I have already, what should I write? Well, last year I wrote New Year's Resolution. My problem is that I'm stuck in a rut of writing short novels. I can't seem to get out of the 60,000 word category. For nano this year I'm going to add the 50, 000 words to New Year's Resolution! Yep, I am. My critique partner asked me if I am crazy. I must be just a teeny bit, huh?

And I'm going to blog about my journey adding so many words to an already written manuscript! You can find my blog over at goodreads.com under Wendy Ely. Watch me take this giant step to over come this writing hurdle!

Are you doing nano this year? What are you working on?

Happy writing and reading,

Wendy Ely