Manuscript Wars – The Writer’s Block Strikes Back

Or, “...come into the light, Carol Anne”

• Words, mix-mastered into a jumble of nothing.
• Ideas that fail to ignite.
• Commitment is a bad word.
• An engine that stutters and dies.

So many euphemisms for the miasma of writer’s block, that loud screech of tires on pavement coming to a full and

complete stop. It’s not a matter of if it happens, but when. And what to do when it does.

I’ve given and received much advice. When I hit the fog of manuscript blues this time, the tried and true solutions failed me. Walking, driving, writing it out in long-hand: Nothing worked. And I stopped creating. 

The words of JRR Tolkien come to mind, in speaking about the long process of writing:

“...and I plodded on, till I stood by Balin’s tomb in Moria. There I halted for a long while...”

Mine is not such a journey as his and I do not in any way pretend it is. The mental picture he paints is rather cool though.

At any rate, the third book in The Magic Withheld series is roaring along now. Fresh ideas are stirring and boiling. Book two, Mage Revealed, is in the oven while Spirit Mage is coming on with grit teeth and fire in its words.

Thank the Lord for those half-asleep moments when strange ideas pop into a writer’s head. It's the only thing that broke me from the dungeon of Writer's Block.

IWSG - Disappointment

IWSG—Insecure Writers Support Group, coming together on the first Wednesday of every month for a virtual pat on the back. 

Did you ever look forward to a much-anticipated book only to be sorely disappointed when it fell short of glory?

It happened to me. Twice in two months.

Two great series—one by a hero of mine and the other book written by a new author who I had put on a pedestal—went thunk in my literary opinion.

It sure is a killer when a book doesn’t live up to my anticipation. And not just the wasted money. But the eagerness, the counting down the days until the release date, opening that fresh cover, turning the page that’s no one’s turned before. Then, half way through the book, you know it’s...blah.

As I’ve said before, giving bad reviews isn’t my style. Not anymore. I prefer to let someone else slap them upside the head. I can’t. It hurts too much when I receive them. How can I do it to other authors?

I hope my literary hero starts a new series. I think his MC has been-there, done-that. The other author has a third book in the series that I won’t buy. The second was just that bad.

So, is there a book that you desired greatly thinking it would quench your thirst only to find a damp palm to lick instead?

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Insecure Writers Support Group: The Final Frontier.

These are the continuing voyages of the Ninja Captain, AJC. His mission, to explore all new writing venues, to seek out new authors and new blogs. 

To boldly go where no blogateer has gone before.