Inspirations and
Distractions: Overcoming and Succumbing to Writer's Block
My house will be clean, my closet organized and
my car detailed and I still haven’t written a single word. It’s the absolute worst feeling in the world;
an itch you can’t scratch no matter how many procrastination-made brownies you
throw at it. When the dreaded Writer’s
Block hits, it’s like a biblical plague spreading grasshoppers and wildfire
across the land. And the harder you try
to fight it, the worse it seems to get.
I discovered that it’s in the distractions that
one can find the best inspiration to write.
Sometimes it may be mundane activities, your usual daily routine, but in
that routine the imagination is unlocked.
Other times it may be an overheard conversation, a news story of some
great event or daring person. Or maybe
it was a song...
Music can always inspire my writing and usually
I have a song that sets the tone for the entire book. For Return to Arèthane, it was the song
“Amazing” by Johnette Napolitano. When I
first started out writing about these elves, I wanted the reader to experience
them through the eyes of a human. I had
intended for my elf queen, Karawyn, to be the main character and Emily was only
supposed to be a fly on the wall, allowing the reader access to these
incredible and amazing creatures. Of
course, Emily took over the story, but the song created the atmosphere in which
the reader meets and discovers Arèthane along with her. For the second book, Arcade Fire’s cover of
“My Body Is A Cage” offered a soundtrack for decisions and choices that would
alter the elves and humans of Arèthane. I
listened to “Fires” by Band of Skulls over and over again while writing Always Me. In each book I have written, there has always
been a song creating a current of feeling beneath the words.
There have been too many times that I have sat
before my laptop staring at a blank Word document, fingers poised over the keys
and...nothing. It seems the longer I
stare, the harder I try to force it, the less the words flow. But I’ve found that inspiration comes in the
oddest and most inconvenient places.
Like the shower. I’m not sure if
it’s the white noise of the water falling or the isolation, but whatever the
reason I do most of my writing while shampooing my hair. In that small space, dialogues seem to always
occur, my characters have their best conversations. The exposition comes out in bits and pieces
while caught in traffic to work every morning.
Knowing I was plagued by inspiration coming in inconvenient ways, a
friend gave me shower markers and a handheld tape recorder. Unfortunately, I can only seem to write and
think, but not speak the words and so
instead I started keeping notepads and pens in my passenger seat. While maybe not the safest way, it gets the
job done. And I haven’t rear-ended
anyone. Yet.
The best distraction in which to be inspired is
reading. Stephen King had stated in On Writing that to be a good writer, you
must be a voracious reader - read everything.
The good, the bad, all of it.
While this may help my writing skills, reading bad writing seems to
inspire me to write. It was what spurred
me to write in the first place. Having
finished a pretty bad YA novel, I thought to myself, “I could do that.” And since then, as I’m reading my mind drifts
to what I would write in my own book, crafting scenes and chapters and seeing
where the story will go. But it’s only
bad fiction that does this. A good book
will pull me in, suck me into that world and I will think of nothing else. So next time, when a friend says, “Oh, you
don’t want to read that book, it’s awful” pick it up! Read it and you may find your block smashed
by the need to do it better.
In On
Writing, King had recommended that the writer must steel himself away from
the television, the radio, other people.
Lock out the distractions and write.
But when you’re blocked, welcome those distractions and you may find
yourself back in front of your computer sooner than you think. Embrace the block!
The Morrigan
Damaged Deities
Book 1
Kennan Reid
Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance
ASIN:
B00U3VPSW6
Word Count: 106k
Cover Artist: Najla Qambar
Book Description:
Morrie Brandon is the best horse trainer in Oklahoma, able to tame the wildest of beasts. She's also the Celtic goddess of War and Sex, The Morrigan, abandoning her supernatural life for a simpler, more human one.
When Morrie is hired by a secretive Scottish family to capture a killer horse ravaging their Highlands manor, the past she has spent thousands of years running from calls her back.
Will Morrie learn from her past mistakes and embrace the bold goddess she truly is, or is it too late?
Available at Amazon
Excerpt
She’d heard the whistle before she
noticed the man. Without even looking up, Morrie knew Kade approached her
on his way home from town, whistling a slow, sad tune as he hiked. She
could feel his presence.
As soon as he noticed her, that
tune changed, a grin creeping at his lips.
“Told ya the ol’ girl didna like
tae be gripped so hard,” Kade smirked, stopping in front of her.
Arms crossed, Morrie expressed her
lack of amusement with a dull glare. “That’s not what happened. This
rusted bucket of junk lost a wheel.”
“Ack, don’t speak o’ her so,” he
chided, pulling his hands free of his coat pocket, frowning with fake
concern. He sidled around to the driver side, inspecting the damage.
“Tis’ nothing, I can fix her right up.”
Morrie jumped off the back and stood
behind him as he crouched down beside the truck. Leaning his shoulder
into the side, he lifted the truck up, giving enough space beneath the tire to
straighten the wheel. Morrie’s eyes widened with surprise.
“It’s a lot lighter than it looks,”
she said, impressed.
With the wheel corrected, Kade
stood up and faced her, dusting his hands off. “Looks can often be
deceiving, Morrie. And I’ll be takin’ tha ride now, if ye doona mind.”
“Not if you’re driving,” she
replied dryly, tossing him the keys.
Once inside and chugging down the
road, the truck's cabin seemed much smaller than before. Kade’s body filled it like an occupying
force.
Morrie kept her face free of
expression as she watched the horizon, but still noted with an occasional
glance the way Kade leaned back casually, his strong, tan hand hanging over the
wheel while he rested his arm on the window. Out of the corner of her eye
she could see him looking at her, watching her more often than the road.
“Are you determined to wreck us?”
she asked.
“I know this road better than my
own home,” he replied with a deep voice Morrie only then noticed had a way of
vibrating her ribcage. “Doona worry yer bonnie head, lass. Ye’re safe wi’
me.”
“Somehow I doubt that.”
He chuckled, but she kept her face
turned away from him, watching the landscape slowly pass by.
“Ye know, the shore’s a bit past
the house on this road. There’s a great restaurant there right on the
water. It’s about lunchtime anyway, what do ye say for stopping for a
bite?”
“No, thank you.”
“They serve Dr. Pepper.”
She looked at him at that, knowing
her face was bright and hopeful despite herself. He had one dark eyebrow
quirked, waiting.
Opening her mouth to speak, Morrie
struggled a moment longer with her basic urges before saying, “Well, I guess I
am hungry.”
“I’m no’ too ashamed tae admit that
hurt, Morrie.” Kade had his eyes back on the road, a smile playing at his full,
soft lips, though his tone had been serious. “That a soda is more appealing tae
ye than me.”
With her stunned gaze on him, a
grin crept its way on her lips before she could hold it back, lightening her
words.
“Well, it’s been two days since
I’ve had any.”
“Ye could’ve had plenty last night
had ye stayed in bed,” he quipped, his voice dropping seductively.
“Is everything about sex with you?”
she asked, eyes wide.
“Canna help myself,” he muttered, a
tone of genuine disbelief entering his voice. “When I’m around ye, I seem tae
lose my mind.”
In a way, his admission was a
surprising compliment, and Morrie couldn’t help smiling at it.
He frowned. “My god, is that
a smile I see?” He made a show of looking at her, inspecting her face, which
only made it harder for her to squelch the silly expression back down. “Doona
hide it, Morrie, my dear, that’s the first time I’ve seen ye smile. It's
beautiful.”
“Don’t be silly,” she said, facing
forward but her lips still upturned.
“Quite right, lass,” he adopted a
playful serious tone. “Put that thing away, wouldna want the angels above tae
cry with jealousy over its beauty.”
Morrie rolled her eyes and glanced
at him.
Something odd happened inside of
her, a weird sensation like she had been filled with warm, rich chocolate. Every time she looked at him, at that bright
smile he flashed and the warmth in his eyes, it seemed to stir that molten
feeling.
“Just speakin’ the truth.”
"You speak with too much
familiarity." She rested her head in her hand, watching him. He
locked eyes with hers and somehow their chocolate depths darkened, his voice
husky when he spoke.
"I really canna help it,"
he answered. "I feel as though I know ye, as though I've known ye my whole
life."
She felt it, too, an odd and
inexplicable connection that seemed to justify her sudden lust. And though the feeling was brief and
fleeting, it sent a shock through her body.
Unable to think straight, Morrie
sat up and looked out, hoping if she focused on the storm clouds rolling in, it
would help relieve the strange sensations at play within her. Lips
parted, she took a breath.
“How much farther?”
Kade cleared his throat. “Not
much.”
Thank
the gods, Morrie thought. Another half mile and she might end up
ordering Kade to pull over and take her there in the cow pastures.
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About the Author:
Kennan Reid traveled from the vast, open spaces of Texas to the vast, open ocean of California where she enjoys sitting outside in the sun, tossing a frisbee to her dog, Barnabas, and on occasion, writing a few words hoping one day they behave and become a book. When she's not pretending to be a romance author, she is writing young adult novels about elves, witches and reincarnation. The Morrigan is her first adult romance novel and after falling in love with the feisty goddess and her crazy sisters, will not be her last.
Kennan also writes Young Adult as Kelly Riad. Other Novels include Return to Arèthane and Prince of Arèthane.
For more information on Kennan visit:
Kennan also writes Young Adult as Kelly Riad. Other Novels include Return to Arèthane and Prince of Arèthane.
For more information on Kennan visit:
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2 comments:
Thanks for having me on your blog!!
nice blurb
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