Novel update

So, I thought I'd take a break from, well, everything and touch base on my blog. Aside from the typical insanity of my life - a two-year-old, two BIG yellow dogs, a "fixer" house, church knitting group and needlepoint group, book club, writer's group, my "projects", housework and trying to find a blood pressure medication that won't make me dizzy or make my legs swell up - I have been diligently working on my novel. The working title is Murder at the Primrose Inn. I'm not good with titles so I don't know if it sucks or not. We'll see. Anyway, I'm just over 10,000 words. I know it doesn't sound like much, but I've rewritten my novel from the beginning and I've edited at least three times 8000 of those words. I promise I will finish it.

Something I discovered, thanks to Kyle Martin a member of my Wordmongers writer's group and a talented writer himself, was that the reason my first draft of my novel sucked, was because I didn't know my introductory character. What could I do? I scrapped what I had written (which means I moved it to a different folder) and I took an afternoon to get to know Walter Martin. See, when characters come to me with their story, I assume that they are the main character. In this case, that was not so. Oh, the character who came to me is interesting and fantastic, but she plays only a small part in this tapestry of intrigue. Walter, I came to realize, is truly a dynamic, three-dimensional man with depths that we will only begin to see in Murder at the Primrose Inn. In fact, I discovered that the "problem" I'm having with my other novel is that I'm trying to write a character that doesn't really fit. Why? I asked myself. The reason is that Walter is the character that needs to cross into my other novel. As an added bonus, Walter has such a tremendous back story, that it could be a novel in and of itself! So thank you, Kyle, for telling me my story sucked!! Please check out Kyle's site at www.storiesbykyle.blogspot.com.

Amanda, another member of the Wordmongers group, shared with me an ebook by Kristen Lamb Are You There Blog, It's Me, Writer. Very helpful in kicking me in the butt to write something everyday even if you don't feel like it. Amanda is another amazing writer working on her YA novel titled Paragon. A big frowny face here because Amanda recently relocated and left us Wordmongers to monger without her. I am in awe of her. She has multiple off-spring and manages to spend more time writing than I do with only one! Please check out her blog at www.abharmsbooks.blogspot.com. I've had the pleasure and honor to critique her first chapters of Paragon and it will be a smash hit when it is finished!

Anyway, it is time to pack the diaper bag and wake the Little Man from his morning nap. It is church needlepoint group time and the babysitter bailed due to illness so he has to come with me this time. I'm sure everyone will be delighted that he came and brought his fire engine complete with siren!

So, I'm supposed to be writing but I'm having a hard time finding time. Does anyone else have this problem? Baby up from 11:30 pm to 2:00 am last night. We, my husband and I, get up at 5:30 am. My husband leaves for work at 6:45 am which is supposed to start my writing time. Baby up at 7:00 am wanting breakfast, but not feeling well.

Tuesdays and Thursdays the Little Man goes to Play School for four hours, which is writing time. Not today. Today he went to the doctor only to discover his crankiness was due to an ear infection. The doctor's visit (that took 2 hours) was followed by a trip to the pharmacy (half an hour) for antibiotic and the grocery store (45 minutes) for sick baby foods.

Finally it was nap time (possible writing time) but was struck with a migraine. I ended up napping with the Little Man until my husband got home. Then it's cooking dinner, eating dinner, cooking a second dinner for the Little Man who did not like the first dinner, cleaning up after dinner.

So, what happens now that it is between dinner time and bedtime? Writer's block! So, I'm throwing this out there to anyone else who has challenges (or a two-year-old) during the day that delay your writing time and how do you overcome your writer's block?