Battling Writer's Block

[mysid]

I got off to a very good start on my rs_small_gifts story and then ground to a halt with my customary case of writer's block. If I'd just been writing it for myself, I may have let the story remain unloved and unfinished on my hard drive, but since I'm writing it for someone else (aclytie), I had to persevere.

The good news, I found a way around my writer's block. I simply backed up, deleted the scene that had tripped my up, and am continuing without that scene.

The bad news, once I start writing, I forget everything else. No Chirstmas presents were purchased today. No cookies were baked today. (Although I did bake Chanukkah cookies yesterday--for my daughter to give her teacher.) And worst of all, I was late picking up my kids from school. Bad Mommy! (They usually take the bus, but I'd promised to pick them up today. I didn't remember that little detail until the exact time I should have been meeting them in the school lobby.)


Quick question for you all: Now that Six Apart has sold LJ, and I will no longer be punishing the hated Six Apart by refusing to renew my paid account status, do you think I should renew? I'd get to keep my purty icons if I do. If I don't, my paid account reverts to a free one in a week.
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Comments

[elfscribe5.livejournal.com]

Good observation, I think, about the writer's block. I've recently discovered that's often the case, you're going in a wrong direction and that sometimes just deleting what you just wrote and moving forward works. Sometimes. What I do is save the deleted scene in another file, just in case I want it again.

I completely understand that time thingie. Can't tell you how often I've looked up from the computer to go, oh no, supposed to be picking up the kid.

Re: renewing. Trying to decide that for myself also. Mine is up in a couple of weeks, so I better make up my mind.

[mysid.livejournal.com]

I keep the deleted fragments too. Occasionally, one finds its way to the light of day either in another fic or as a stand-alone. But most--alas--are still in cryogenic storage.