Distractions

I'm prone to distraction. My mind gets caught up on something and it freezes me up. Often, this is a good thing. The distraction is something writing related, figuring out a plot point or something a character needs to do. I write it down and I can get back to doing whatever it was I was doing.

However, sometimes there are distractions that keep me from writing.

And I am in the middle of one right now.

You see, I'm getting married a week from Saturday. And the planning is taking up a lot of time. So I'm sitting at just over 39,000 words in my manuscript and I've frozen up a bit. Most of what I have written this week has been crap.

And a lot of what I've blogged on here the last few weeks. (Go ahead, say it... You're writing crap now, Dave? How is that different from anything else you've done on DSD?)

I'm trying to keep my routine. Go to the gym, then write, then lunch, but it's not working. I've spent too much time on the phone. Too much running around.

I'm excited to get married, and I know in 3 weeks, the writing will really pick up again.

But for right now, I'm a little frozen.

So after tomorrow, I'm gonna be off from the blog for two weeks. Joelle will be handling Thursday duties for me.

Enjoy!

Titles

PROMISES TO KEEP.

WHISPER TO THEIR SOULS.

If I'd had my way, those would have been the titles to my first two novels. The novels that became WHEN ONE MAN DIES and THE EVIL THAT MEN DO... two clearly superior titles, I think.

I find titles to be a key element to a novel. Maybe, intially, THE KEY ELEMENT. When I walk through a bookstore, I scan the titles first. I look for one that jumps out at me, and that's what I take off the bookshelf to inspect some more.

And the problem is... with my third book I just can't find the right title. I've been through four so far. With another 70 pondered and tossed out before I even typed it on the title page. This book has been just out of my grasp for a long time, going through many many drafts... and it might not be done yet. But each time I come up with a title it just doesn't feel right.

It's been driving me batty. I'm at work and I'm just talking about titles to my colleagues. As I run, titles are jogging through my head as well.

I even forgot to post this post on time because all I've been thinking about are titles.

I'll come up with one. I'll pour through a book of quotes or I'll find a phrase in the book I like and it'll speak to me... but until then... I'll just be thinking of different phrase in my head... OVER AND OVER AND OVER...

So two questions...

As a reader, how important are titles to you?

And...

As a writer, how important are titles to you?

Bad Habits

By Jay Stringer

I’m here today to talk about an addiction.

It destroys lives, and it has had a hold of me for about ten years, give or take.

Yes. I’m here to talk about Football Manager. That annual package of computer game bliss. It can transport you away from real life, make you feel warm and tingly. It came make you feel like a better man. A superman.
It’s not all good, though. Like with all habits, it is a destructive force. It takes away friends and ends relationships. You can become distant and cranky, living in a fantasy world and forgetting how to interact with real people.
And it eats away whole years of your life; keeping you sat in the dark, jabbering and screaming at the wall. Your real memories become intermixed with fake ones.
Where were you when Michael Jackson died? Me, I was probably giving a half time team talk in the champions league final between Real Madrid and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
It’s a sad and destructive tale. I think Irvine Welsh wants to work with me on the novelisation.

Okay, actual blog time.

This is a follow up to my first piece for this site. Back when we started, I wrote about how I don’t believe in writers block. It led to some very interesting discussions. At the heart of it was my premise that ‘writers block’ is actually just part of the writing process. It’s the brain figuring things out.

But there was an important element that I missed out back then. Because who doesn't love a sequel? One of the major factors in the productivity of a writer is distraction. Ever noticed how the comic book industry seems to have a higher number of scheduling delays around the time a hot new XBOX game is released?

People close to me have developed the ability to predict when I’m in ‘writer mode’ because I’ll be spending my spare time building a guitar, or going for walks. Maybe cleaning the kitchen or inventing a new recipe. I’ll be doing something invigorating or creative. At the same time, it’s easy to see when I’m being lazy. Because I’ll be playing that damn computer game. I was joking with a friend about it recently, each trading our game-sobriety tales. “Hi, I’m Jay Stringer and I haven’t played in three weeks.”* I joked that the last time I went any true length of time without giving in to the game, I wrote a novel. And its true.

I think we all have these dirty habits, though they’ll be different for everybody.
Worse still, we know these things destroy our work rate. I know each time I sit down with a fresh pile of comics, or each time I load up “just for one quick game,” that I’m kissing goodbye to productivity for the foreseeable future. Yet we do it anyway. Part of us likes it.
So, to steal a Weddle-ism, here are a couple of questions.

-What are your bad habits? Out yourself. It might feel good.

-What do you do to overcome them? Do you have a way to defeat your demons, or do you like giving in?


*This is blatantly not true.